


Altered States

by crayonbreaky gal (crayonbreakygal)



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-10-12
Updated: 2005-02-02
Packaged: 2018-05-31 05:14:01
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 11
Words: 37,259
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6457267
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreaky%20gal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wesley, Willow and Faith are caught up in a world where people are treated as chattel and it is survival of the fittest.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prisoner

**Author's Note:**

> Note from Versaphile, the archivist: this story was originally archived at [WesleyFanfiction.net](http://fanlore.org/wiki/WesleyFanFiction.Net). Deciding that it needed to have a more long-term home, I began importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in February 2016. I e-mailed all creators about the move and posted announcements, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this creator, please contact the e-mail address on [WesleyFanfiction.net collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/wesleyfanfiction/profile).

Summary: Wesley, Willow and Faith are caught up in a world where people are treated as chattel and it is survival of the fittest. Total AU story taking place after “Orpheus” in Season four. This story happens after that episode.   
Pairings: Wesley/Willow, Wesley/Faith, Wesley/Lilah  
Rating: NC-17, for violence, sexual situations, and adult situations.  
Disclaimer: All of these characters belong to Joss, Mutant Enemy, etc., etc.

 

Chapter One – Prisoner

“Next,” the guard shouted as the line moved quietly forward. The woman in front of him shuffled her feet nervously. In another world, she would have been quite attractive. Now she bore the scars of too many beatings. When she stumbled, he put a hand under her elbow, nothing more. He hoped that the guards hadn’t seen the gesture. It didn’t pay to be too kind in this world. Attachments of any kind were frowned upon. The woman didn’t even look back in thank you.

He didn’t look into the eyes of the guards once he had made it near the front. But he noticed everything. How nonchalant they were, even a bit reckless. Anyone with half a brain could have broken out. Why hadn’t he?

The woman in front of him was next. He really didn’t think she’d make it out this time. Her hands shook as the guards looked her over.

“Name,” the guard asked. He was a burly guy, tattoos snaking down his arms, vicious slash across his face. Not a guy you would like to meet in a dark alley.

The woman gave it to him, a quiver in her voice.

“You were a what? A singer before. You haven’t produced any results yet.”

“No,” she whispered, now visibly shaking.

“How many times?”

The woman’s eyes flashed with an anger that had been banked until now. “Five,” she responded more clearly.

“You know that’s the limit.”

The woman nodded. She knew what came next. They all did. If you were chosen and there weren’t results, then your fate was sealed. The guard gestured towards two others standing at a door. The door to hell, all the other prisoners had dubbed it. No one knew what lie behind it. Only that you didn’t want to end up there.

“Wait, wait. I’ll do anything. Please,” the woman pleaded.

The guard grabbed her and pulled her closer. “Anything? I’ll bet you would. There’s still something, isn’t there?”

The woman nodded again, now knowing that she might be facing a fate worse than death itself. Now she regretted speaking up. 

“Put her in Group A.” The guard shoved her away to be led by another down a long corridor, but not through that door.

Group A was better, much better than B or C. At least you got to live. He couldn’t think about the woman any more. He was next.

“Ah, the newbie. Haven’t found the right match for you yet. The boss is workin’ on it. Has a soft spot for you.”

Oh, that was great, he thought. Keeping himself invisible was hard enough. If the others thought that someone was playing favors, then his life could become much more difficult.

“Hey, if you could have handled a hellcat like her, well I see why she’d want to keep you around.” The man chuckled at some inside joke that he had with the other guards.

“Here,” he said, thrusting a pile of papers his way. “Figure out what this says. Make yourself useful.” 

The guard then looked down at his middle and chuckled again. He flinched again, but only inwardly. And the man turned to the next in line.

Make himself useful? Being in a real prison would be much better than this. At least there would be rules. In this world, there were the rulers and then there were the prisoners. No in-betweens. He sighed, holding on to the bundle as he silently walked out the door into the bright sunshine. At least he’d been chosen for a more mundane task. Eventually they’d get around to the other, what they considered more important than the papers in his hand.

Men were treated a little better in that regard. They were given many more opportunities to prove themselves. A young woman, barely out of her teens, walked by him, belly protruding outward. Her expression was grim. The man who followed behind her, who looked to be much older and wiser, was even grimmer. It must almost be time for them, he thought, and it made him shiver.

He’d been in the facility for over a month now, and not much shocked him anymore. The prison consisted of barracks for the guards, buildings for some kind of research, and the threadbare tents that housed the prisoners. 

He’d fought the good fight and in the end lost the war. Hoping to be killed in battle, it had not come to pass. He’d been taken prisoner instead. Was that a fate worse than death also?

Thoughts of escape were always on his mind, but he kept it to himself. He’d seen what happened when people tried to escape. It wasn’t a pretty sight. So he decided to bide his time, to figure out the best way to approach the situation. It was best to study, formulate a plan, and then implement one with the least amount of trouble. Unfortunately, he hadn’t really come up with anything concrete yet. But he knew the time would come when everything would fall into place.

 

As he scribbled on the pages before him, he figured that this task had kept him sane. Sure, there were others who had been at this much longer than he had. He had fought until the capture. The others here hadn’t. But he was needed, along with many others. He still had to prove himself to stay alive.

All the people who sat at the makeshift desks scribbled feverishly, like if they didn’t get the work finished, there would be hell to pay. Which of course wasn’t exactly true. They just didn’t get to eat. Part of the problem with that though was they sometimes missed things. Which meant there would be literal hell to pay.

Thinking it out logically, he concluded that he’d rather go hungry one night than to get his head chopped off the next day for screwing something up.

So he never was the first to finish, proving his theory and keeping his head firmly attached to his body. His muscles in his back still ached from sitting most of the day. The guards gave them an hour break in the middle of the day, but it wasn’t enough. He was used to the rigors of fighting, not sitting to translate some archaic text, not that he wasn’t an expert in it. He was.

Finally the guards whistled that it was time to stop. His back creaked as he rose from the stool. He placed his papers in a neat stack and handed them to one of the guards on the way out. He’d finished the simple translation fairly quickly, so he’d had time to make sketches of his prison. Depositing them in a pocket so no one had seen what he had done had been quite simple. The worker bees had been so busy, no one noticed anyone. It was better to not be seen or heard.

They all headed off in different directions, no one stopping to even look at each other. There was no friendliness to speak of and he couldn’t blame them one bit.

The sun had already set by the time they had been dismissed. The guard on the way out had handed him a ticket for him to get a meal. As he lined up to receive the food that would sustain him, he still soaked in the knowledge of how the prison camp worked. How many guards manned which stations, how many people stood in line for each meal, what kinds of weapons were carried. His interest in observation never went away. This would all aide him when it was time to break out.

Even though the food was basically slop, he ate with gusto because one never knew when the next meal would come. When he had first arrived, the swill had made him physically ill for a couple of days until his stomach became used to it.

No one spoke during the meal, and even if anyone did, it was in low tones. Most of the people that came to the camp were extremely beautiful, extremely smart, or had some unique ability. If you were any combination of the three, then you were treated much better. The average joe would have been weeded out in less than a week. Around the table where he sat were a mathematician, a physicist, a couple of doctors, and someone who he thought might be telepathic. His skill set was considered quite unique, which gave him a few more privileges than some of the others that translated with him daily.

“Here Randolph gave up the ghost,” one of the doctors whispered.

“Too cocky,” the other replied.

“He should have just gone with the flow.”

“Yeah, well, he didn’t want to produce, so out the door.”

How one simple act had been reduced to such a cold term made him angry.

“Well, if you had seen that thing, I think you would have had second thoughts too.”

His ears perked up. That was interesting. They were all human in the prison camp. Although some of them had unique abilities, no other creatures existed there.

“What was it, exactly?’ he finally chimed in.

“Not sure. I heard the guards discussing it. All they said was it looked female, and then they chuckled. Another one joked about its arms. Said they shot out some kind of knives or something.”

If he would have to guess, he would have said Polgara demon. But unless he saw the creature, he couldn’t be certain.

“So they tried to force him. Not much left after that.”

The five people sitting around him shifted uncomfortably in their seats.

“I thought it was just supposed to be humans,” the mathematician said.

“Must have changed their minds.”

The rest finished up their meals, then quietly made their way back to where they slept. When he had first arrived, he had slept on the cold ground until a woman and her two young children had taken pity on him and let him sleep in their tent. The woman had immediately recognized his abilities. And she also wanted a male for protection. So they co-existed together.

“You’re back,” she said as he entered the tent. The two young boys had already fallen asleep.

“Yes, Katrina. Only translations today.” She sighed in relief. “How did they do today?”

“The tests were exhausting, but they’re OK.”

“They’ll hold up.”

“I hope so.” Katrina gave him a weary smile, and then went to lie down with her boys.

He quickly brushed his teeth and decided that sleep was a good thing too, since he’d been up before the crack of dawn waiting in that damn line. After he fell asleep, he dreamt of a time where he was free and everything seemed so much simpler.

 

Being woken up in the middle of the night though was a shock to the system. The guards prodded his body a few times and he almost struck out against them. He had heard them coming, hoping that they were heading to the next tent. No use letting them see that he was ready for them. Katrina had huddled in a corner with the boys, frightened that someone would get hurt.

“Let’s go, animal. The boss wants to see you,” the big guard told him.

There was no way he would resist since he didn’t want to put his tent mates in danger. He got up quickly, pulling on his only sweater against the night’s chill. The guards led him to a building, then put him in a vehicle and blindfolded him. He hadn’t been out of the prison since he’d been captured. Being taken from his bed at gunpoint was not a good sign. He couldn’t think of anything he could have possibly done wrong to warrant being killed.

He felt the vehicle stop suddenly a few hours later, and was led out, still blindfolded. The air smelled sweeter, cleaner, like jasmine. Oh, that was not a word he wanted to think about at the moment. It brought back too many unpleasant memories.

The guards took him to a room, sat him down, and then left without taking the blindfold off. Curiosity was always one of those traits that got one into trouble, and he possessed that trait in spades. So he peeked out into the room, finding no one present.

As he walked around the room, which looked like an office, he noticed it seemed familiar. Looking out the window, he could see that the room was many floors up in a high rise.

It was the scent in the room that was familiar, he concluded. It had at one point covered every inch of her body. He had known only one person in his life that wore it. But she was dead. And he had chopped her head off to make sure that she didn’t become the undead.

“Look who has been a bad boy,” the familiar voice purred behind him.

The door had opened so silently, he hadn’t heard her sneak up behind him. He had let his guard down just slightly as he thought about wielding that ax.

“Surprise, surprise, loverboy. You know you can’t keep a good woman down. Or in my case a bad woman.”

She came into view tossing her long, blonder tresses back over her head. The scar he had created was there, but the head was firmly attached.

“Lilah.”

TBC


	2. Prisoner

Chapter Two – The Chosen One

“Wes. Not surprised to see me?”

“Not at all. Your head.”

“Firmly attached now, no thanks to you.”

“Too bad.”

Lilah mock-pouted a little at the comment, then moved closer to look him over.

“Love the hair, Wes. It just screams street urchin.”

It hadn’t been his fault that they’d shaved his head. The hair had been slow growing in, still shorn close to his scalp. She reached up to run her hand over it. Wes caught it before she touched him.

“What do you want, Lilah?”

“Well, for starters, you can drop the act. You’re not the tough, in charge guy now. You’re the beaten prisoner guy.”

So she must know all about his situation. Wolfram and Hart must somehow have their slimy hands in it all. Maybe there was a way out of this, if he played his cards right.

He turned her hand over and yanked her forward, propelling her body right into his. Her breath was knocked out of her in a satisfying whoosh. Her eyes flashed fire, but her body didn’t move out of his reach.

“Hey, big, macho guy. Must not have gotten any in a while. What? The Texas Twig not up to your standards?”

Lilah tried the same taunt right after he had broken up with her. She had even dressed up as Fred once, glasses and all. And he had gotten off on it all. Now, he just cringed that he had ever stooped so low as to sleep with the enemy.

“Still haven’t lost all those hard planes,” she crooned as her hand inched to his waistband and then snaked up under the sweater to his chest.

It had been a while since anyone had touched him intimately. He had at least missed the touching part, even though it was from a sworn enemy. And here he thought he was over the screwing evil phase. Life just never was funny, ironic, but never funny.

“And you still haven’t lost the ability to prostitute yourself to every warm or cold blooded male in your vicinity.”

If that comment hurt her, she didn’t let it show. “Hey, I always welcomed a three way with you and Angel. But you never took me up on it.”

Now that was funny. Angel would have twisted her neck and snapped it if she had even suggested it. Or he would have done it just as she peaked, just to see her expression as she died while coming. The thought made him chuckle.

“Didn’t want to catch anything from you, I’m sure.”

“Not like you cared about that.”

“Oh, remember, dear. I’m evil, a traitor to the cause. I’d already caught just as much from you as I cared to.”

Now that did sting. She must have thought about his breaking up scene. If looks could kill, she’d have been the champion at the moment.

“Oh, your words were always your best suit. Too bad they couldn’t help you out of this, shall we say, situation.”

Lilah pulled away to walk to the window. Always with the last word, he thought. Although she didn’t always get away with it.

“Which you probably had to do with, I’m sure. What do you want?”

“Oh, you’re still here. I just wanted to taunt you, is all. I also found you a match.”

Wesley’s heart caught in his throat. Son of a bitch, he thought, not voicing his displeasure though with words. He kept his face neutral.

“So this situation was all your idea, I see. Not very appetizing.”

Lilah turned, leaning up against the desk, showing just about as much cleavage as a woman could show without being obscene.

“No, not mine. Interesting premise, I’ll give them that. I just work here, remember?”

“So why the sudden interest in me?”

“Good times, dear. That’s all. Wanted you to have the very best. And the Senior Partners have taken an interest in this match that has been made. They think that the outcome will benefit them.”

Damn, people are not outcomes, he wanted to scream back. People should not be reduced to such vulgar terms. Somehow, he would make her pay in the future. First, he needed to find a way out and quick.

He approached her desk, certain that she knew he looked down her open blouse. What else did he have to lose? If he somehow ingratiated himself with her, maybe he could take her down with the whole thing.

“What makes you think that I would even agree to this match?” he asked as he bent over to come close to her face.

“Oh, you will. Remember if you don’t, well, I don’t have to tell you what will happen.”

Yes, Wesley did know what happened if one refused. He was only a few inches from her face. Her smell was still intoxicating after all they had been through together. He had thought there at the end that she had gained some sort of soul, but now he knew he was mistaken. She just wanted to make him suffer for making her feel. Just like Lilah to lash out at anyone who actually was good to her.

“What will happen? You’ll spank me and tell me what a bad boy I’ve been.”

Now that got her attention. She moved to close the distance between them. Instead of taking his mouth, she traveled to his ear, biting and licking it before moving back to his lips.

“God, I’ve missed your snarkiness. No one can talk dirty better than you, Wes.”

She reached up and grabbed his head down for a searing kiss. But he wouldn’t let her be the aggressor this time. He pulled her over the desk, setting her down in front of him and opening her legs to come in between them. She was hot and ready for him as he pushed against her.

He ripped the buttons off of her very expensive silk blouse, making them scatter all over the desk. What she had been so boldly displaying for him now was out in the open. Pushing her back on the desk, he reached into her bra and squeezed her roughly. Her moan of pleasure escaped as he pulled the strap down. His mouth tasted all the exotic pleasures that Lilah had to offer. She tasted so warm and musky, he wondered how he ever let her out of his bed and life. 

She moaned more as he brought his head down to her navel. He pushed her short skirt up her thighs until he exposed the rest of her. She didn’t have on any underwear. 

“I believe you expected this, didn’t you?”

“A girl can dream. It’s been so long.”

“Yes, because no one can do what I do to you.”

She almost screamed as he bit into her thigh. His hand reached up to capture a breast as his mouth came down on her. Now she did scream. His mouth teased her while his hands moved over her body, making it shiver in delight. This was what he missed about Lilah. She would give him everything at this moment, just not at any other moment. She could abandon herself totally in the act, and then push away from him like it had just been a quick fuck with a stranger.

But he wasn’t a stranger to her body. He knew what she wanted, how she wanted it. And he was in control. It didn’t take long for her to scream out his name in ecstasy. She panted as he kissed up her body, reaching her lips to pin her down to the desk. Opening her mouth to him, he dived in with his tongue to let her taste herself. And she let him do whatever he wanted.

Her hands roamed down to his crotch, squeezing it until he almost saw stars. Then those skilled hands found his zipper, jerking it down and pulling him out. Not waiting for her guidance, he rammed into her, moving her back along the desk until he was in her completely. Her gasp of surprise made him move again, this time harder and faster. He really didn’t care if she came, he just cared that she knew he was in control of her. 

He slammed into her, watching her reaction. Her eyes challenged him, to see if he could make her fly again. Just as he felt the need to go over, she came also, squeezing him hard and tight, and making it all that sweeter. He collapsed in a heap on top of her while she tried to breathe.

“The best fuck around. Your skills haven’t left you.”

He pulled out of her, not even looking in her direction as he righted his clothes. If she kept him with her, he might be able to find out more information, somehow break the hold that Wolfram and Hart had over so much of the population. And he would prostitute himself to her to meet that end.

Her hands came around his middle, pulling him tight against her front. “What do you want Lilah? Another go? I could stay,” he told her as closed his eyes at what he was thinking. Would she see through his charade?

“Sorry. Can’t. Not even for you.”

He turned to look into her eyes. Backing her to the desk again, he pinned her. “Why?” He moved his head to place gentle kisses along her neck.

“Because I’m not in charge. I just work here, remember?”

His hands roamed down to her shapely behind, thinking that if he pushed hard enough, she would relent. But before he could, two guards came back into the room to retrieve him.

“Send them away,” he whispered into her ear.

“I just got this head reattached. I certainly don’t want it to be unattached again. Be a good boy, and maybe after you show results, you and I can have some fun.”

The guards roughly bound his hands behind his back, shoving him through the door. She’d used him. That’s all he was. A toy to her now. And he didn’t even get a chance to ask her who the match was.

“And oh, Wes,” Lilah called as the guards led him down the corridor. “Be careful. She’s a handful. Don’t let it rub off on you.”

Lilah literally cackled as she slammed her door. The woman must be batty, he thought. Dying, then being reanimated must have scrambled some of her brain cells.

The drive back was uneventful, if not uncomfortable with the bindings and the blindfold. The guards ripped both of them off, then shoved him towards his tent none too gently. As he walked in, he noticed Katrina awake with wide eyes.

“I thought you were dead,” she whispered over the sleeping boys.

“So did I.”

He wearily sat down on his pallet, wondering what on earth to do next. That’s when he felt the slip of paper in his pants pocket. And it hadn’t been there before. Pulling it out, he found a few simple sentences written in Latin. 

“She of light and dark, bind thee. She of dark and light, bind thee. As blessed will be done, so will hers be. Bind thee, bind thee by the light to me,” it said, with the number two directly underneath.

Lilah, was all he could think. She had helped him, if just a little. He had misjudged her completely. She had said she had influence on the match. Obviously this had something to do with that match. It was a spell. What it did, he had no idea. He probably would find out in a hurry though.

He still hadn’t slept by the time the sun started to rise. He needed to do translations today. But all he would think about would be the spell. He could multitask in his brain, he knew. The library where he worked just might have the answer to his question. Was he supposed to use this spell on someone?

As he made his way to the line, his mind was in overdrive. He was missing a piece of the puzzle. As a matter of fact, he was missing most of the pieces. He knew that binding spells could be good or could be detrimental to the spellcaster. Having enough power was the key, and the right kind of power.

His mind hadn’t even realized that the line moved faster than normal. As usual, most went on their way with some task or another. A few were sent off into the different groups. When it became his turn, he automatically laid his hand out for the materials that needed to be translated.

“You’ve been chosen.”

TBC


	3. Willow

Chapter Three – Willow

His eyes widened in surprise. That soon, he thought. He hadn’t time to review the spell just yet. Lilah had gotten it to him just in time. He gulped when he thought of the consequences of not complying with the guards. He just hoped that some Polgara demon or worse didn’t await him. He’d do the job of killing himself then.

The people in back of him didn’t say a word, although he could tell they were glad it wasn’t them. Stay invisible, do your job, and you got left alone. Which was what he thought he had been doing. He should have broken out long ago.

The guards roughly shoved him down that long corridor to an office overlooking the tent city. The man behind the desk looked up at him as he entered, the guards trailing, waiting for him to refuse the match.

“Ah, there you are. Pryce. Take him to Room Four.”

“I suppose I don’t get to know who?”

The guard behind him whacked him with a nightstick, bringing him to his knees.

“Do not talk. Simmons, make sure you leave them this time for three days. Last time you left the others for five days, the male ended up dead. That didn’t look good on my report.”

Wesley slowly climbed to his feet, realizing he was just chattel at this point. Once there were so-called results, then he may be able to request a little information, if he survived the night that is.

“What do we do if she tries to kill him?” the guard asked from behind him. “He is a favorite.”

Someone, possibly Lilah, gave him a little protection. 

“So? You think I care. Just do your job, Harrison. Get that thing out of here.”

The guards shoved him out the door, pushing him forward until they came to an elevator. Once they got in, the guard pressed the number to go down five levels. Underground rooms too, in addition to the aboveground offices. The place was larger than he had anticipated. What he needed to worry about at the moment was his predicament. They could be leading him to his imminent death. But the outcome could be the same. In nine months time, he could be dead. It happened enough, so he knew the consequences.

As the guards unlocked the door to Room Four, he readied himself for whatever fate awaited him. Nothing jumped out after him as he stepped foot over the threshold. He couldn’t see at first glance what he would be up against.

“I ask you, is she human?” he asked, turning to the guards, hoping to get a straight answer without getting injured by one of them.

“Human? Sure. Able to handle? I doubt it.” The guards chuckled, and then pushed him inside, sealing the door.

The room looked like a cellblock, but without the bars and no windows. There was no natural light to speak of, since they were underground. Two overhead lights illuminated the small, gray room, almost making him sick to look over. A door to the right looked as if it contained a very small bathroom. The only furniture in the room was a bed, which had one thin blanket atop it. It was even more depressing than the tents that everyone shared up in the light.

God, what was the world coming to? If they were trying to make a perfect society, much like Hitler had tried long before, this seemed to be the most horrendous way to accomplish it. You couldn’t populate the world with offspring of the beautiful and smart. Somewhere in the gene pool, something would go wrong.

“Hello,” he softly called out, not wanting to frighten whomever else was in the room. Where on earth was she?

If he held his breath and listened closely, he could hear breathing coming from somewhere. He bent down to peer underneath the bed, but found no one. The only other place to look was through the door to his right. The light was off, which wouldn’t matter much since the harsh lighting of the room glowed inward anyway. As silently as possible, he moved over to the door, eyes peeled for any danger lurking.

At first glance into the small room, he didn’t notice anyone else. But the breathing did become more pronounced. Gently as he could, he pushed the door open all the way with his foot. There huddled in the shower enclosure was a figure, trembling. The woman’s hair covered her features, so he couldn’t tell whether she was a teenager or a woman of forty. She wouldn’t be too much older. They wouldn’t get the results that they wanted if that were so.

“Hello,” he said again, wanting to reassure the woman that he was no threat.

“No. Not right. Not right. Not right. Glass shatters. Glass shatters. Glass shatters.”

Oh, dear, he thought. They had given him clues that she wouldn’t be easy to handle. Did he end up with a woman who was insane? And why would they want results from a woman who was potentially insane?

His hair on his skin started to stand up the closer he came to the woman in the shower. Even in the strange lighting, he could tell that her hair was straight, and a coppery-red in color. As he opened the door to get a closer look, the woman raised her head and he went flying out the door, crashing into the adjacent wall. He saw stars for a few moments, as he lay sprawled on the floor. A hint of strawberries filled the air as he slowly regained his footing.

The air crackled with magicks. That’s what he was feeling as soon as he entered the room. Slowly, carefully, he made his way back to the bathroom, hoping to at least talk to the woman.

“Please don’t do that again. I’m not here to hurt you.”

The woman had dropped her head again. He had only caught the briefest of glimpses at the woman. Now she rocked back and forth, moaning low in her throat.

“I can help you, if you let me.”

The moaning stopped for a moment, almost like the woman had actually listened to him.

“Something wicked this way comes,” she whispered to him.

“I’m not sure what you might be talking about. I know of the book.”

The sound of his voice seemed to comfort her somewhat, because the rocking stopped, along with the shaking.

“The Beast shall inherit the earth.”

A play on words, maybe? He had fought a creature that called itself the Beast not all that long ago. But the thing was dead. Angelus had killed it with a knife made from its own flesh. That had been the knowledge that Wesley sought when bringing forth Angelus.

“If you’ll talk more with me, maybe we can figure this out together.”

“I’m so glad we had this time together,” the woman mumbled. The phrase seemed familiar to him, he just didn’t know from where.

They had three days though. How could he convince a woman who one, knew magicks and how to use them and two, was at the edge of insanity, that they had to produce results. Oh God, now he was thinking just like they were.

“Do you know why you’re here?” Might as well give it to her straight.

“What part of no did you not understand?” the woman said as she raised her head finally.

Did he gasp when he actually saw who the woman was? As her black eyes bored holes through him, he thought about getting tossed across the room again.

“Willow?” 

No, not her. They couldn’t have captured her. He couldn’t, he couldn’t possibly hurt her in any way. Her mind wasn’t working correctly. Her eyes were supposed to be a color, green if he remembered correctly. Now they were as black as coal from the magicks that roared through her body.

“Do you know who I am?”

“Giles, Jr., without the annoying tweed.” Of course, that she would remember.

“Wesley. Do you remember me?”

“Psycho slayer-girl will end up in a cell and we’ll jump for our lives.”

She wasn’t making a lick of sense. What did a slayer, probably Faith by the description, and jumping have to do with the situation they were in right that instant?

“Willow, I wish I understood what you were talking about, but I don’t. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t warn the tadpoles,” Willow said to him before collapsing in a heap on the shower floor.

Wesley crept closer to her, not willing to get thrown again. He edged the shower door open, but she didn’t stir. He slowly reached his hand down to see if she still had a pulse. Her breathing was shallow, but she was still alive. Her forehead felt warm to the touch, almost feverish. Did the magicks that she had maintained make her ill?

As gently as he could, he lifted her from the cold floor and took her into the main room, placing her on the bed. He watched her for some time, hoping that she would awaken and remember something that would help them.

Her eyes slowly opened on their own, this time looking to be green. Wesley sighed gratefully, hoping the woman was back to herself now. He needed her brain to figure a way out of the room and the complex.

“A room,” she stuttered. “A bed,” she said as her hands felt underneath her. “A Wesley. What are you doing here?” Her voice rose an octave at the last statement.

“I could ask the same of you. Do you know where you are?”

“No,” she said, tears starting to spill from her eyes. “What is going on?”

“You’ve been taken prisoner. Do you remember anything about that?”

“No. I’m not remembering much of anything that’s happened.”

“What’s the last thing you remember then?”

“Doing the spell to restore Angel’s soul. I remember standing in the lobby of the hotel. Then nothing.”

Now that was a mystery. Wesley knew that had happened some time ago, probably at least six months if not longer. His sense of days was off since being held prisoner.

“It’s been a while since that happened. I’m not sure exactly how long, maybe six months.”

“Six months,” Willow said, alarmed at the declaration.

She sat up next to him on the bed, eyes darting around to take in her surroundings. “So you know why we’re here?”

“Unfortunately, all too well.”

“Well, spill. We haven’t got all day.”

She did need to know why they were trapped in a room together. Just looking at her made it more difficult. “They want something from the two of us.”

“Eww. Like experiments or something, cause, that’s just not good.”

“Something like that. You see, there are these prophecies.”

Willow shook her head. “Why does it always have to do with a prophecy?”

“My sentiments exactly. They talk about raising an army. That’s about as much as I know. I haven’t seen the actual text, so I’m not sure what comes next.”

“So they want us to be a part of their army?”

“No. They want us to make their army.”

“Huh? How would we do, oh. Oh. Oh?”

The wicca blushed profusely, figuring out what exactly he meant to say without saying it.

“I hope we are on the same wavelength now,” he asked of her.

“What do they do? Take the energy from us, or do some ritual or something?”

“No. They take what they call the product. And we have to produce results or they may kill us.”

“Product? Sounds icky. Results? OK, in plain English please, because I’m still not all that clear.”

“When I mean they are literally raising an army, I mean literally.”

“So they want us to, you know and then, you know?”

Willow didn’t want to say it and neither did he. They were adults here. He just wanted to make sure she understood the consequences.

“In plain English, we need to produce a child and if we don’t, they’ll kill us.”

Willow gulped. “Yeah, that’s what I thought I said, but not so plain.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Not your fault. At least it better not be, or I won’t be happy.”

Willow curled herself into a ball on the bed, not wanting to get any closer to Wesley. He couldn’t blame her one bit. They really didn’t know each other, only had worked together a short time. They did share some of the same experiences though. Having talked to her right before re-ensouling Angel, he realized just how much alike the two of them were. Both had lost their way for a time. 

“I don’t think it’s me this time.”

“So what do we do? I mean, do we do? I mean, oh boy.”

“From what I’ve seen, there’s no way out of here. Maybe once we were topside, we could get out of this. But we’re five levels down underground.”

“I could use my magicks. Maybe get us out of here.”

“You could try. But I wouldn’t want you to injure yourself.”

Willow closed her eyes to concentrate. Her face contorted, and then she opened her eyes. “I can’t. Something is blocking me.”

“But you knocked me across the room when I found you.”

“I did? Sorry.”

Wesley was thinking they somehow put some kind of dampener so that Willow’s power couldn’t be used to escape. “So they must know what you are.”

Willow stretched out her legs, placing them on the floor to get up. But she didn’t make it, tumbling to the ground before Wesley had a chance to catch her.

“Ow,” she cried out.

“You’re weak.”

Wesley picked her up and set her back down on the threadbare bed. “As a kitten. Could have something to do with whatever is sapping my energy.”

“We have three days.”

“For what? Oh. I know. I’m just in denial. So what happens if we don’t?”

“From what I’ve heard, death is the easy part. Whoever is running this operation, they really don’t care how they get results. Makes me wonder if they have to meet quotas.”

“So we do it, and then we’re done. Simple as that.”

Wesley looked at her, shaking his head no. “What if it doesn’t happen the first time, or the second?”

“You know, I could do without the visual just about now.”

“Thank you for the compliment,” he told her, sarcasm dripping.

“No, it’s not you. Well, it is you. I know you. I worked with you. It would be like sleeping with Giles or something.”

The girl had more scruples than he did, that was for sure. Lilah would be laughing hysterically if she saw the two of them bantering back and forth.

“Once and for all. I am not Giles. He is decades older.”

“Yeah, but you’re both British and watchers. Sort of the same.”

Yes, sort of, but not quite. Giles didn’t lose his slayer to the dark side. He didn’t get kicked out of the Watchers’ Council.

“I don’t see any other choice at the moment.”

“So we have to?”

“It’s not like I’ll kill you or turn evil.”

“Yeah, Buffy had too many of those happen to her. My ex-boyfriend Oz was a werewolf. Not evil, just werewolf. You’re just human.”

Just human. Great. She still thought of him as he was in Sunnydale, even after their heart-to-heart talk. And she still talked too much when she was nervous.

“How about I turn out the lights and we rest for a bit?”

“Great idea.”

Wesley walked over and switched off the lights. The room was plunged in total darkness.

“Too dark, too dark.”

Wesley flipped the lights back on, walked over to the bathroom and turned those lights on. He flipped the main room’s lights off and headed towards the bed.

“I hope you don’t mind sharing?” he asked her.

“No. Enough room, plus that floor looks really cold and uninviting.”

The bed creaked as he sat down beside Willow. The hint of strawberries still lingered in the air. The scent had mellowed from sickly to quite pleasant. As he leaned over to pull down the blanket, Willow’s eyes became rounder.

“Cold?” he inquired.

“A little.”

They both moved underneath the blanket, keeping to their respective sides, which wasn’t easy since the bed wasn’t all that big. Wesley laughed at their situation and at some of the phrases Willow had said before.

“Don’t warn the tadpoles?”

“Did I say that?”

“Some frog nightmare you have?”

“Yeah, something like that, Wes. It’s not funny.”

“Just caught me by surprise.”

“Go to sleep.”

It didn’t take long for the two of them to drift off to sleep. By the time Wesley woke up, Willow had moved over to his half, curling up like a kitten against him to draw heat from his body. The sensation wasn’t all that unpleasant.

The guards bursting into the room had not been something he was expecting at all. Before he could move, one had him hauled off the bed, while the other tasered Willow. The nightstick must have hit him three times before he sunk down against a far wall, bloodied and sore.

“That was a warning,” were the only words spoken. The two left, slamming the door on their way out.

Willow lay on her side, not moving. He just hoped that the guards hadn’t injured her too badly. He hadn’t seen them throwing any punches her way.

Holding on to his side, he got up and staggered over to the bed. “Willow? Are you hurt?”

Willow turned, black eyes flashing. Before he had a chance to move out of her way, she had him on the bed and pinned. What else had they done to her while he was getting the crap beat out of him?

Her hands moved to his face. He just hoped she didn’t possess superior strength or his face could be bloodied even more.

“Blood. Blood. Blood. It’s always blood.”

More cryptic messages from black-eyed Willow. Her hands moved down to his throat, fingering his prominent scar.

“You shouldn’t take what wasn’t yours.” Then she bent down and licked it.

“Willow, you need to come back from this state you’re in. Are you listening?”

“Don’t you ever listen to me, Wesley?” she told him as she moved to the side of his neck.

Her hips started to rock into his. As her mouth sucked on his neck, her hips did the rest. 

“They must have given you something.”

Her mouth moved to his lips, capturing them greedily. His head became dizzy with lack of oxygen from the suction she was creating. He finally was able to pull her away for a moment to catch his breath. But the dizziness stayed. She tasted just like strawberries too. Delicious strawberries. He shook his head to clear it, but the taste lingered. He found as she started kissing him again, that he had to kiss her back. In the back of his brain, he knew they had been coerced into this act, but his body was reacting to everything she was doing to it.

Willow’s hands found the buttons of his shirt, which she finally just ripped open. Her hot mouth descended, licking and kissing until she found a nipple, which she promptly bit. His body felt like it was on fire and if he didn’t have her, he would burn up.

“Willow,” he panted, “we have to stop,” his brain said out loud. 

His body had other ideas as his hands came around her tightly. 

“I want you,” she told him as she bit his stomach.

He noticed her green eyes had reappeared finally, so hopefully now she wouldn’t hurt him. Her mouth tickled him in a delightful way, so he giggled a little. Sitting up, he pulled her up to his mouth again, wanting that sweet strawberry taste. She obliged him by opening her mouth, and thrusting her tongue inside his. He heard her moan as he did the same.

He pulled her legs over to straddle him, pushing into her as their tongues danced together. His shirt came off, her nails raking his back. He reached up to feel her pulse beating in her neck. Slowly moving down, he felt her breasts through the gauzy top she had on. It didn’t take much to rip the shirt from her body to display a lacy bra underneath. He removed her mouth from his to bite down on a lace-covered nipple.

“We really do have to stop,” Willow panted out.

“I can’t,” Wesley explained. “Spell maybe. Drugs.”

Willow pulled the bra the rest of the way off. Wesley felt like he had died and gone to heaven as he took what she offered. His hand found her wet and ready for him. He pulled her underwear aside and plunged a finger into her, making her cry out. Before he could pull it out, she came with such intensity she screamed his name.

He laid her back down on the bed, stripping away her skirt and underwear quickly while she worked on his pants and boxers. As soon as that was accomplished, he spread her legs and dove in. 

This was sweeter than Lilah had ever been, he thought. He could feel the power raging through Willow’s veins, like if he just knew how to reach it, the two of them could be all powerful. They kept up a frantic pace, thrusting fast, but finding a shared rhythm. 

As he neared completion, Willow took his head in her hands and drew it down to her mouth, kissing him like she’d die if she didn’t. They both came together in such an incredible rush that Wesley thought he stopped breathing for a couple moments. She still throbbed around him for quite some time as he quietly lay on top of her.

“We just, we just. We didn’t,” Willow finally said, able to find her breath. “You’re squishing me.”

Wesley rolled off of Willow, landing on his back beside her. “We did, with much enthusiasm.”

“Those jerks.”

“Assholes.”

“God, I feel better.”

“Spectacular.”

“That was intense.”

“Indeed.”

“Can we do it again?”

“I think that was their point, now wasn’t it?”

Willow slid her body back over his, laughing as she did it. “So we do this for how long?” she asked as she bit his earlobe.

“It should be about two and a half days, I think,” he answered as his hand traveled down her side.

“We’ll kill each other.”

“Whatever they gave you will wear off.”

“Must have transferred to you.” Willow worked her body down until she was ready to go again. “You’re hard.”

“It’s a wonder that I haven’t gone already, with you moving the way you are.”

Willow moved down over him, taking him in completely. “You talk too much.”

Willow slid up and down, keeping an even pace. Coming up on his elbows, Wesley reached for what was being waved at him. Capturing a nipple, he sucked as she rode him hard.

“Fuck,” Willow screamed as she came again. 

Wesley flipped her, pumping into her frantically until he came. “I think that’s what we’re doing with abandon,” he told her as he collapsed to her side.

“We are going to regret this. I know it.”

“Feels too good to regret,” Wesley answered as he rolled to his side to face her. “Turn around.”

Willow complied, spooning against his front. His hands came around to gently tug on her breasts. “Never thought you knew your way around a woman’s body like this?”

“Lots of practice,” he said as he nibbled on her neck.

They stayed that way for quite some time, until Wesley was ready again. He thrust into her from behind. Willow moaned his name over and over again until they both went over the edge.

 

Lilah watched as her former lover and the witch screwed each other’s brains out. She never knew he had that much stamina. The drugs they had been given must have been strong. God, she just wished that she were in that room instead of the redhead.

“So, it looks like the party has started finally,” a voice told her from behind.

“With a little coercion thrown in, the two are going at it like rabbits.”

“Makes you all horny, doesn’t it Lilah?” A hand came down the top of her blouse.

“Lindsey, I’d rather get myself off than have you touch me.”

Lindsey McDonald laughed as he watched the screen again. “The redhead, whoa, she is something. Isn’t she gay?”

“Not tonight. Or tomorrow for that matter.”

“What’ll you say?”

“In your dreams, little man.”

Lindsey bent down to block her view. “You know how you like that head firmly attached to that lovely body of yours. I suggest you be a little more accommodating.”

Lilah could play this game with the best of them. She’d sleep with or do anyone to get what she wanted. Even if it meant fucking Lindsey until she was blue in the face.

“Sure, hon. Anything you want,” she purred as she reached for his belt buckle.

TBC


	4. Faith

Chapter Four – Faith

Growling got her a whack on her legs. Spitting got her a hit on her side. These guys just didn’t get it, she thought. Why didn’t they let her go and she wouldn’t be a nuisance to them anymore.

The cuffs they had her in were some kind of reinforced metal that she couldn’t break, no matter how hard she tried. They had rubbed her raw on her wrists as she had tried to wriggle her hands through them. It didn’t work. They must be enchanted. There wasn’t a set of handcuffs made that she wasn’t able to escape.

They had put her in a cattle car along with several other humans. No one talked much, other than to ask for water. Otherwise, everyone was for him or herself. That was fine with her. Story of her life and all that.

When had the world gone crazy? It just seemed to happen so suddenly. One moment, she was on top of the world, the next moment, captured like an animal. She had made a simple mistake, trying to save a woman, making herself easy to capture. That damn sense of right and wrong had decided to rear its ugly head at the wrong time.

The vehicle stopped, throwing the occupants against the sides and front in a rush. Although she could take the abuse, some of these humans could not. One screamed in pain. She just hoped that they didn’t put people down for injuries, like vets did with animals. Feeling like an animal in a cage made her want to commit the worst violence on the closest person. But they were innocent, eyes searching for a way out of this mess.

The guards opened the back of the truck, gesturing with a great, big gun for them to move. Several of the prisoners had grabbed the injured person. As they climbed out, the guard told the people to drop the injured. When one didn’t comply, he used the butt of his rifle to make his point. Then pointing the weapon, he executed the person quickly. Several people gasped, some crying. There was nothing she could have done to stop the violence. Being chained up made it almost impossible. Oh, and no strength made it entirely impossible.

One of the guards, who looked to be in charge, came over to the group, which was now one less. 

“The first rule is obedience. You will obey each guard or you will be executed. You each will have a job assigned to you. If you do not do that job, well, you can figure out what might happen to you. Do your job, and you will be fed and housed until you are chosen.”

Chosen? What the hell for? She just hoped it didn’t mean sacrifice, because been there, done that. No more sacrificing.

As the guards led the group away, one of the guards grabbed her, throwing her to the ground. He started to unbuckle his belt. She knew exactly what he was going to try. Try was the operative word, because she kicked her legs out, taking him down with one swift movement. She’d die before she let anyone do that to her. Ever.

“You bitch,” the guard screamed.

“Leave it. If the boss sees you messing with the merchandise, she could just lob it off of you. Mean enough.”

The man on the ground had scrambled back up, shaking dirt off in the process. Too late, she saw the steel-toed boot come up to connect with her body over and over again. As she went under finally, she prayed that it would be quick.

 

Wesley and Willow both awoke with a start, inching away from each other on the bed. Wesley ended up crashing off the bed, not watching where he was going.

“You OK?” Willow asked him.

Oh God, oh God, she cried in her mind. What had she just done, many, many times? Why had her world gone so topsy-turvy? Wesley’s world seemed to have also, so at least they had that in common.

As he stood, she quickly noticed that he was naked. She squealed a little, closing her eyes to the sight. Not that she didn’t like the sight, but she was surprised that he was naked nonetheless. Remembering the time they had spent together, she could feel the blush start from her toes, gathering steam until her whole body felt like one big, red ball.

“Fine,” he told her as he climbed back under the blanket with her.

“Has it worn off now?” She hoped that it had. Had it? 

“I assume since you are not attacking me, then yes it has.”

She didn’t attack him. That guard had coerced her to do it. “No attacking here. You are just as much to blame.”

“Yes, two to tango and all that.” He sighed, placing his arm over his eyes as he lay beside her.

A man was beside her, in bed, naked. That hadn’t happened since Oz, who she missed fiercely at the moment. He had always made her feel safe and loved, well, until the very end he had. Now she just felt strange and somehow unfulfilled.

“What do we do now?” she swallowed.

“I personally would like to take a shower.” Wesley got up again, this time not falling out of bed.

Willow peeked as he made his way to the lone bathroom. She was not looking at his butt, she thought. But she did, just out of curiosity. Then she hid her eyes again, not wanting him to know she had just looked.

She had a girlfriend, for goodness sake. A great girlfriend. A new girlfriend. What on earth would she do? Was Kennedy even still alive?

Willow heard the shower come on, steam pouring from the door. She just hoped that he would leave her enough hot water. Placing the blanket around her, she paced the room a few times, waiting for him to finish.

Impatiently she walked over to the door to tell him to hurry up. But as she looked in, she saw him again. Dammit, the drug hadn’t worn off. She didn’t want him, she chanted. She could control those urges.

“Willow, if you don’t stop looking at me like that, so help me . . . .”

“What? Think you could take me?” That just did not come out of her mouth.

He shot out of the bathroom, pinning her to a wall in a flash. “I thought you said it had worn off.”

“I don’t know. How am I supposed to know? I’m not an expert,” she squealed while looking at his mouth. That mouth had done such wonderful things to her body.

Why had she never noticed him before? Like when they would research together in the library? Not that he ever looked at her, because his eyes always seemed to be focused on Cordelia. She was just a wallflower, not sexy at all. Now he looked at her like he would devour her in one bite.

“You sure?” he asked as he half-smiled. She didn’t like that smile.

“Hey, buster. No smiling. And no touching. This is just not right.”

He didn’t let go. She didn’t want him to let go. When the drug finally did wear off, they would have so much to regret. Right now, no regrets whatsoever. Love and sex had always been gentle and kind for her. This man in front of her wasn’t either of those. Did that make her a bad person to want that, if just for a little while?

He rubbed up against her, making her eyes close as he did. The blanket was still between them, leaving a barrier between their bodies. “No, not right. We know that. I can’t stop.”

The last sentence almost came out begging. But there wasn’t anything she could do about it. She let the blanket fall away, feeling the heat of his wet body against her own. 

“Did you leave me any hot water?” she panted out as he kissed her neck.

“Should be,” Wesley got out as he traveled to her collarbone, licking and biting along the way.

“Better be,” she told him as she felt him hard against her. 

Her moan said everything. She wanted this. A drug might be causing it, but she wanted to feel wanted again. It had been so long. As she wrapped her legs around his torso, he entered her gently, still sucking on her neck. 

“You can shower after this,” he told her as he created a slow, sensual rhythm. 

“That would be nice,” she managed to get out before he touched her, sending her over the edge for the umpteenth time. 

She’d lost count too many hours ago. How long they had been cooped up in the dismal room she couldn’t even figure out? They had been so lost in a sexual haze, she didn’t know whether it was hours or days that had passed. He came by whispering her name in her ear, making her all tingly all over again.

“No whispering,” she quipped. 

He didn’t stop his actions, eliciting a groan from her. He somehow knew she wasn’t quite done. She felt the heat rise again inside of her, rushing through her like a freight train until she collapsed against him as she screamed again.

“Sorry,” he told her. 

The look of anguish on his face said everything. He didn’t want to hurt her any more than she wanted to hurt him. Gently he put her down, easing her legs to the floor. Since she was unsteady, that was greatly appreciated. She stayed in his arms for a moment longer, trying to figure out something to say to make him feel better. The only thing she could think to do at the moment was place a gentle kiss on his lips, trying to tell him with her body that she understood.

As she stood underneath the showerhead, she wondered how on earth they were going to get out of this mess. They were both smart and resourceful, so if anyone had a chance of making it out alive, well, they could. She did trust him. Did he trust her? He had told her that she had used magicks against him when he had first arrived in the room. She didn’t remember a thing.

Turning to rinse the shampoo from her hair, she noticed him standing at the door of the bathroom, watching her. The steam didn’t cover up her nakedness. She’d just let him look his fill.

“Thanks for the hot water. It’s been a while,” she called out to him.

At least he was partially clothed now, with a pair of pants pulled on. That was all. She could see through the steam his scars. She hadn’t really paid attention to them until now. Man, the guy must have been through a lot of battles. And he survived them, which was a good thing for her.

“You’re welcome.”

When she finished her shower, he handed her a towel, still not taking his eyes off of her. It had made her a little uncomfortable, being eyed up and down by a man much older than she was. She knew he was older. He certainly knew his way around her body by this point. He took the other towel to her hair, rubbing it to take out the excess moisture from it.

“Why are you treating me so nice? You don’t have to, you know.”

He stopped what he was doing to her, turning her to look at him in the process. “This is not fair to you or me. Whatever the outcome, I want you to not remember those bastards up top. I want you to remember this.” He placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. “They have reduced this act to a result. It isn’t a result, it’s a human reaction to love, closeness, connection. They cannot take that away from us.”

She looked into his eyes, knowing now that he was serious. His blue eyes sparkled with a fierceness she had only seen one other time before. Angel had looked at Buffy that way the one time he thought she might die. This man standing before her may not love her, but he would protect her with his life if need be. She had wanted to cry at his gentleness, but knew he wouldn’t like her reaction. So she would be strong for him.

“God, you smell heavenly,” he whispered in her ear.

Her insides melted again. They should bottle his voice and sell it to women, she thought. Turning her back to the mirror, he replaced the towel on her head, drying her hair as she held the other tightly closed. He dropped the towel on the floor. After, he teased the other towel to the floor also. She watched as he drew his pants off, sans underwear. 

She knew exactly what he wanted. Bending, he entered her, filling her completely. As he gently slid back and forth, she opened her eyes to watch him now. He gradually opened his eyes too, staring into hers as their bodies moved together. They stayed locked in each other eyes until the orgasm overwhelmed them both.

 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she said over and over as they made her drag the cart around. 

Her strength still had not returned. But they made her work as though it was still there. Did they know she didn’t possess the power she had before?

What they did know was they could hurt her as much as they wanted. She was slapped, kicked, punched plenty and often. Wounds would not heal fast enough before someone else would get angry with her for no reason and she’d go down to the dirt.

Days later, she was given a place to sleep, but the abuse continued unabated. She didn’t know how much more abuse she could take. Luckily, they hadn’t tried to rape her. That would have put her over the edge.

“You ought to see that fuckfest that she recorded. Man, they were going at it like rabbits,” one of the guards said as she worked nearby.

“Man, if she finds out you saw those.”

“Nah. She has so much of it in there, she’ll never know I touched it. It looked like she had been playin’ it over and over again. Must get off on it.”

The other man shook his head at the statement. What the fuck was going on here? The torture she could take. What else would they make her endure?

 

On the third day, Wesley and Willow were finally let go. They were instructed what they would do until it was determined if they succeeded. The drugs had worn off finally, but that didn’t mean they weren’t attached now. Wesley could see by the look in her eyes that she was frightened. 

“We’ll get through this,” he whispered as they were led out into the sunlight.

Both sighed as the fresh, cool air rushed into their lungs for the first time in many days. It was lucky that neither one suffered from claustrophobia. They had been cooped up too long. As they made their way back to Wesley’s tent, people stared at them, knowing what they had just done. He didn’t care one wit what they thought. He’d protect Willow from them. He had to. He was responsible for her now, after what he had done to her.

“Oh my God, no,” Willow swallowed as they came upon a group of workers cleaning the makeshift street of blood. 

There must have been a problem, he thought. He’d seen it before. The guards would execute someone on the spot, leaving the prisoners to clean up the mess. It had happened enough times that there was a crew that took care of that.

“Willow, look away,” he commanded, but she wouldn’t comply.

“No, not that. Over there.” Willow pointed with her eyes to a figure off to the right.

She looked familiar, he thought. The hair was long, dark and matted with something he didn’t even want to know. She was the one taking care of the body, which had been literally blown apart from whatever weapon had been used. Willow walked forward toward the woman. Wesley stopped her suddenly, wanting to know what she saw.

“Careful, Willow.” He didn’t want to make trouble unnecessarily.

When the woman raised her head from the task, Wesley winced visibly. The woman had bruises on her face, her arms, her legs, anywhere that was visible to the naked eye. But that was not what made him wince. 

“Faith,” Willow whispered to him, knowing that Wesley would react to his former charge’s condition.

He wanted to run to her, to get her out of the situation, but he resisted. They were in no position to get her out of it just yet. Faith looked up, trying to drag the body over to the cart. Immediately she spied the two of them. Her eyes teared up as she started to drag the corpse away. She had recognized the two, but didn’t want to acknowledge it for fear that they would be found out. Wesley nodded ever so slightly to his slayer and pushed Willow forward, wanting to get her out of there before the guards noticed their hesitation.

“We can’t leave her,” Willow implored.

“We don’t have a choice at the moment. We won’t leave her though. Something’s not right. Her strength seems to be gone.” 

His mind whirled at what he could do for the slayer. Without the slayer strength, she might not be able to escape with them. So he’d have to plan not only getting Willow out of the prison camp, but an incapacitated slayer. Could his day get any better?

As they entered Wesley’s tent, Katrina stood up, a question on her lips. It died as she saw Willow with him. She wouldn’t be pleased that Wesley had brought back Willow to stay with them. But he didn’t have a choice in the matter. She was all that mattered, along with getting Faith the hell away from the prison.

“What do we do?” Willow whispered into Wesley’s ear.

“We’ll figure something out.”

Katrina looked over the two. “Sorry,” was all she could say to them.

“Willow, this is Katrina. Katrina, Willow.”

“Hi,” Willow said, not wanting to get off on the wrong foot.

“Why did you bring her back here?” Katrina would want to know the specifics. Wesley had no intention of telling the woman of his former knowledge of the wicca.

“Because it is what is done. Willow is harmless.”

“She better be.” Katrina left the tent in a hurry.

“Why is she here?” Willow asked after the woman left.

“Her sons are telepathic, but only with each other. They’re performing tests on them. I think that eventually they’ll get around to matching Katrina too.”

“See if they can produce another result.”

“Yes. Unfortunately.” Wesley sighed in resignation.

“Faith?”

“We need to get her out of there. It looks as if someone has been treating her like a punching bag. And with no strength, it’s impossible for her to heal fast enough.”

“Since I don’t have any power either, must be some kind of dampener put on the place.”

“But you did have some, when I entered that room.”

Willow sat down on the makeshift bed, looking tired and dejected. “And you said I looked a little insane. Not a place I would like to go again.”

“Yes. You were babbling about nonsense. But one thing is puzzling.”

“Yeah? Not this whole situation for instance?”

“No, you said something about psycho slayer-girl will end up in a cell. Much like what has happened, wouldn’t you say?”

“So maybe not so babbly after all. What else did I say?”

“You remembered the Giles Jr., without the annoying tweed remark.” He plopped down beside her, putting his elbows on his knees, thinking about what else she may have told him in her insane rantings. “The toad remark, something about jumping for our lives, the Beast shall inherit the earth. Glass shatters. I’m so glad we had this time together.”

“OK, total insano woman. None of it makes any sense.”

“And you also said that I shouldn’t take what wasn’t mine, and that I don’t ever listen. Both things that Angel has accused me of at one time or another.”

“Whoa. I didn’t know. You never told me any of that.”

“I know. And blood, why does it always have to be blood.”

“Key, portal, blood.”

“So, that’s all I can remember at the moment. Maybe something else will come to me.”

“Can we scope out Faith? Can she stay with us?”

Wesley thought through all of the information that he had gathered. Could Faith possibly stay with them? Why had they beaten on her so badly? It could have to do with her not being able to shut her mouth at the worst times. That could have gotten her into trouble.

“Let’s go. You need something to eat, either way. I have to warn you, the food here is not appetizing.”

“Can’t be any worse than Buffy’s cooking.”

Wesley smiled at her joke, taking her hand in his to lead her out of the tent.

TBC


	5. A Plan

Chapter Five – A Plan

Faith had seen the two. Had seen the slight nod of acknowledgment from her watcher. They knew her predicament. And would try anything to get her out of this situation. Both were just too stubborn to take no for an answer.

When it came time for a break, the guard threw her food down to her on the ground. She didn’t care if it was dirty. It was food. She ate it like a starving animal, not caring if they laughed as she ate. One day, she’d break all of their necks with one twist each. Then she’d laugh over their bodies.

“You need to clean the bathrooms now, woman,” one of the guards announced after the break was over.

He led her to the communal bathrooms. As she cleaned, maybe she could get a little cleaner in the process. Just as long as the bastard left her alone, that is. He finally did as he became bored just watching her clean the toilets. What she didn’t expect was for Willow to come in right after the guard left. She didn’t want the wicca to get caught talking to her. Willow’s body would not be able to take one blow, much less the ones that Faith had gotten.

“Faith,” Willow whispered quietly in the still air.

“Leave. They may have cameras, listening devices. I don’t want to get you hurt.”

“Don’t worry. Where are you sleeping?”

“The ground, where else?”

“You can come to our tent.”

“And put the two of you in danger? No way.”

“Yes, way. I don’t think they can really do anything to you for sleeping in a tent. Or Wes thinks they can’t.”

“My bruises say otherwise.”

Willow looked her over, assessing her injuries. Faith just wished she’d leave before the guard came back.

“Look for us after dinner. We’ll give you a place to sleep. Trust me, OK?”

Should she trust the only contacts she had and get them into trouble? “I’ll see, if I’m not caught or anything.”

“Do it,” Willow bossed. “Now go take a shower. I’ll clean and keep a look out while you do.”

Faith hesitated. Willow might take a beating for her. This was not fair in the least. But she did as she was told and finished in record time. Willow threw her some clothes that had been left in the bathroom, just as the guard re-entered the room.

“Where is she?”

“Oh, the girl. In back cleaning. Nice job too,” Willow said as she quickly exited the building.

Faith kept her head down so the guard couldn’t tell that she had cleaned up. Her clothes weren’t in the best shape, so he wouldn’t know what Willow had just done for her.

 

Faith did as she was told for once, Wesley thought. Amazing. She met them in a discrete location and followed behind them at a safe distance until they arrived at the tent. Katrina would not be pleased that another person was sharing with her and her two boys. She would have to survive. He wasn’t leaving Faith out in the cold one more night.

“Another one?” Katrina cried as Faith entered the tent behind them.

Faith immediately went into flight mode, which Wesley stopped with a hand on her arm. She flinched as he touched her.

“Don’t leave. Let me look at your injuries.”

Willow implored the slayer to sit down on the bed. Faith pulled up her sleeves so Wesley could see the extent of injuries on her arms. The bruises were every color of the rainbow. New and old ones mixed together. There wasn’t much to do for these.

“Not going to find much of her body unmarked,” Willow explained to him as he gently prodded her ribs to see if she had broken anything.

“They just did it to make a point, not to kill me. They’ll heal,” Faith responded.

“They could have killed you.”

“Not likely. They knew what they were doing.”

Yes, they did indeed, Wesley thought. Hit her where it would hurt, but not cause permanent damage. He checked her over for a few more minutes, then decided that what she needed was sleep, not him poking around at her sore skin.

“Sleep is what you need,” he told her as he took her legs in his hands to pull them to the bed.

“That’s OK. I can sleep on the ground,” she said as she struggled to get up.

“We’re going to have to pin her down, aren’t we?” Willow quipped as she sat down on the bed.

“It’s cold and we’re tired. Move over.”

Faith’s eyes widened at what he had just said. If they squeezed, the three of them would fit quite nicely. And it would be warm for once in his bed. He shivered almost nightly from the cool air in the tent.

Katrina had turned over in her bed with the boys and acted like she was asleep. He hoped she was for her sake. If they ever questioned her, she would give them up in a heartbeat. He didn’t think she would at that point since he protected her and the boys.

Faith scooted over, making room for the other two, with Willow in the middle and Wesley on the outside. Faith shook from the cold air, not being able to get comfortable in her new surroundings.

“Willow, change places with her.”

Willow quickly complied. “Faith, you’re like ice,” she told the slayer.

“I’ve been so cold for so long,” she answered back, still shaking with cold.

Wesley wrapped his arms around her, trying to warm her up so she could sleep. Willow did the same from her side, wanting the shaking to stop so they could all get some sleep.

“Thank you,” Willow mouthed over top of Faith’s head. 

Wesley could see Willow in the darkness now, his eyes having adjusted to the dimness. She was just as scared as his slayer was. He needed to get them out of this and soon. Before one of them ended up dead or worse.

 

Faith awoke in the middle of the night, not knowing where she was. The two bodies surrounding her had warmed her up considerably during the night. She hadn’t been that warm in quite some time.

It was just too weird to be snuggled up next to Willow, although Wes she could take next to her anytime. So she turned into his chest and sighed out her contentment, if just for a short while. As she moved, Willow moved with her to snuggle up against her back. Wesley took his long arms and reached around her to touch Willow in his sleep. Willow responded by doing the same to him, covering Faith with limbs. Now she was cocooned in warmth. And neither would budge. She guessed there were worse fates. So she settled down, drifting back to sleep, thinking warm thoughts all night.

The next morning, Wesley shook her awake at first light. He was off to his destination, not wanting her to be late either. Willow waved goodbye to both of them, not coming with them.

“She’s not coming,” Faith said as the two of them left.

“She already has a job.”

“Sitting. Great job. I’ll trade.”

“No, you won’t. You wouldn’t like the results,” Wesley told her in all seriousness.

“You need to fill me in on everything that is going on here, watcher.”

“I will, at the first opportunity. Now is not the time. Be safe,” he implored her as he turned a corner, off in the opposite direction as she was heading.

“You too.”

Who had yanked their world out from underneath them? There would be hell to pay when Faith found out.

 

Fortunately the day went smoothly for the two workers, because when they came back to the tent, both Wesley and Faith looked as if they were just gone to another day at the office. Willow breathed a sigh of relief.

“Had food?” she asked the two.

“Yeah, pig slop. But food.”

“Here. I took what I could.” Willow pulled out some bread and a couple of apples.

Wesley passed the bounty on to Faith. Faith halved it, and gave back his portion. He glared at her, but accepted it nonetheless. So that was the way it was going to be. They both would accept help, but only begrudgingly.

“Time to talk you two. We don’t have any company at the moment.”

“What the fuck is going on? One minute I’m minding my own business, the next I’m here,” Faith told them impatiently.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” Wesley asked his former charge.

“Good question. OK, the last real thing I remembered was standing outside the hotel, waiting to leave to go to Sunnydale. There are memories after that, sporadically along the way. I remember fighting with the First. I remember it being over, mind you not how it turned out. Oh God, I don’t know anymore what seems real.”

“Familiar?” Wesley asked while turning to Willow.

“Very. I’m sensing a pattern here. How about you, Wes?”

“Same kind of pattern. I remember the hotel, then memories in between, not clear at all, then ending up here about a month ago. Even those aren’t that clear until a week ago.”

All three sat on the bed now, weary from the day’s events.

“So who’s behind this?” Faith asked the other two.

“I’m fairly certain that Wolfram & Hart have their dirty claws in it all. I had a meeting with Lilah herself the night before I met Willow.”

“Her usual bitchy self-absorbed self?” Faith inquired.

“Yes. Very much so.”

“Wait a sec. She’s dead, right?” Now Faith remembered that part.

“Was. Neck is now reattached with a lovely scar on her neck. I’m not sure how that happened.”

“Scar, neck? I’m not following,” Willow told them.

“Old Wes here chopped her head off to make sure she wouldn’t become the next Darla.”

“Oh. Not good. So they’re a player. Anyone else?”

The other two shook their heads at Willow. They weren’t getting anywhere with that question.

“OK, what the hell are we doing here then?”

Willow looked over to Wesley’s pained expression, knowing that the slayer was too smart for her own good.

“They are raising an army, Faith,” Wesley started.

“Beating me up isn’t going to help matters,” she answered.

“Not you that they want,” Willow added, nodding to Wesley to just tell her.

“They want all of the offspring that are produced to build the ultimate army.”

Faith tilted her head, thinking about what he had said. “Man, they could have any combination at their disposal. Fuck, witches with seeing abilities, slayers who were telepathic. Damn, it would be hard to defeat that if it happened.”

Willow had thought the same thing. She knew that Wesley had power within him. If they combined it, made a child, the thing could be all powerful. It scared her to the core. The child would be intelligent, cunning, and powerful. She just hoped it didn’t come to that.

“It’s happening. As we speak,” Willow told her.

“So any kids with unique abilities yet?” she inquired.

“A few. They’re just babies. They’re results could take time.”

“Yeah, if they accelerate their growth rates, make them older through magicks, we could be talking a year, maybe less,” Willow wanted the two to know.

“I hadn’t thought about that possibility, Willow.”

“Glad to help, Wes.” Her voice hitched just a little with the statement.

He grabbed her hand and squeezed tight. “We need to escape as soon as possible.”

The two women looked at him for the answers. Willow wanted to contribute as much as she could, but since he seemed to be able to lead better than she could possibly ever, she waited for his idea.

“I might know of a way out of here. We can take down the three guards that man the tower, we could climb over . . . .”

“I know how to get out,” Faith interrupted his flow. “There’s a gate on the north side. You’d miss it. I only noticed it because they seem to not pay attention to someone like me.” Faith looked down to her ratty shoes so no one would look at her face. “There’s only one guard on in the early morning hours. Must be the gate that the guards use to come in and out of the complex.”

“Then we get out of here, tomorrow,” Willow added to the conversation.

“We need to plan a little better. Tomorrow would be too soon. Faith, watch the gate for a couple more days. Make sure that wasn’t just an anomaly. Willow, try to gather as much food or other provisions that we would need. Hide them well, just in case someone comes snooping.”

“This might work,” Willow cheered.

“Let us hope so. Time for bed,” he told the two.

“OK, guys, I am not in the middle tonight. You two are just too grabby, no offense,” Faith wanted them to know.

“There were no complaints last night.”

“I was cold and all. Totally warmed up now.”

They drew straws. Wesley got the shortest straw, so he was in the middle for that night. Willow breathed in his scent, content to rest against him. She noticed that Faith turned herself away from him, keeping as much distance from his body as she could.

“I won’t bite, Faith,” he told her.

“Bullshit.”

Willow giggled at her comment. “Oh, only occasionally.”

“Go to sleep, Willow,” Wesley said to her as he bumped her to be quiet.

“So are you guys going to tell me what you did, or am I gonna have to guess?”

Wesley choked at the question.

“Not something for public consumption,” Willow whispered as Katrina entered with her children.

“I’ve pretty much figured it out already, Will.”

She was smarter than Willow was. It took her a few minutes to figure out what she and Wesley had to do.

“I’ll share,” Willow whispered to Faith across Wesley.

Faith snickered back. “No thanks.”

“Hey,” Wesley quietly said, not happy with Faith’s assessment.

“Big baby,” Faith answered back, turning into his side.

With Wesley on his back, the two snuggled down to each of his sides. She was so glad that he was the one. Man, if it had been anyone else, she wouldn’t have made it through.

 

As Wesley entered the line, he noticed it was considerably shorter. That didn’t make sense. Maybe more people had permanent jobs, or were chosen. He hoped it was the former. As he made his way up to the front, the same guard that he had encountered the first time he had been chosen sat at the desk. The man smirked his way. Wesley made his face as impassive as he could.

“What are you, some kind of breeding machine?” the guard started out with.

Wesley stomach dropped even lower than it had the first time. Willow was his charge now. How could they saddle him with two?

“What?” he managed to get out.

“Take him to be assigned.” 

The guard shook his head as they led him away, yet again to the same office. The same guy sat at the desk, pushing paperwork around like he would die if he didn’t look busy.

“I don’t get it. You don’t have any other ability other than being a smartass. What’s going on with you?”

The man came up to him, looking him over like he was a specimen. “I should take you for a test drive just to see what’s under the hood.”

Over his dead body, Wesley wanted to add. But before he could offer that up, the door opened behind him. The man had conveniently put his hand around Wesley neck too.

“Let him go, moron. Go fuck someone else. He’s mine,” Lilah announced from the door. “Besides, he doesn’t look good plastered all over stupid asses like you. He’s special.”

The man growled at Lilah’s comment, but left the room as Lilah pointed for the door.

“That man has screwed up more people in his couple of months here. I should just have them cut it off. Maybe then he would stop harassing everyone.”

Wesley glared at her to get to the point. “Lilah, this is not funny.”

“Funny? Did I ever say it was funny? I’m doing you a favor. You never seemed gay. Was I wrong? Should I call him back?”

Lilah was bluffing, he could tell. But he’d act like she wasn’t. “No. You don’t have to do that just for me.”

“Got another one for you. Thought you would like this one. Just your style.”

“I already have one to take care of. Why another this soon?”

“You are just so chivalrous. And I like seeing you squirm. You’ll give me a great big thank you on this one. Or you might be dead. I’m not quite sure.”

“Get it over with, Lilah.”

“Yes, Captain.” Lilah saluted and pulled the door open and motioned the guard to take him away.

“And Wes. What are you supposed to say?” Lilah taunted.

“Fuck you and piss off,” he answered, not looking back.

“Redundant, damn you.”

Last word Lilah, he thought. Something she thrived at. Until he came along, that is.

TBC


	6. Escape

Chapter Six – Escape

They opened the door to a room just like the one he had spent those three days with Willow.

“Why didn’t I figure this one out?” the all too familiar person said from the bed.

“Oh, because we’ve been played. Over and over again, Faith. Ad nauseum.”

The guards slammed the door shut behind him. Faith lifted herself up from the bed, winking at him after her feet hit the floor.

“So, you ready for some action?” Faith asked as she started taking her top off.

“Faith, wait.”

“What? So those guys can come in here and inject me with some drug to make us all hot and horny for each other. I’ll bet we could do that all on our own.”

“Twenty bucks says we can’t.”

“Hey, you’re on. Show me?”

“I don’t have the money on me. I’ll have to owe you. If you win.”

“Oh, I’ll win,” she told him as she slowly walked toward him, shirt swinging around her arm. 

She was gloriously naked from the waist up. That was the first thing he had noticed when she had removed her top. Could they be as amorous with each other as he had been with Willow? He dreaded getting beaten again, since his bruises were just fading. He really did feel like a machine at the moment.

Faith leaped into his arms, almost knocking him over in the process. But he held on as she dove in for a devouring kiss. So she’d win. He knew that. Taunting her had just made it fun. Whereas Willow was sweet and funny, Faith might just kill him in bed. Maybe he did need those drugs after all.

“I’m not sure I can keep up with you,” Wesley whispered in her ear.

“It’s all about control. We have it if we don’t let them dictate what we do,” she answered back, biting his earlobe as she finished.

Wesley walked with her to the bed, literally throwing her down on it.

“Lights,” he told her as he started to make his way over to the switch.

“Let them watch. We’ll give them a show they’ll never forget,” she purred as she pulled him down on top of her, grinding her hips up into his.

That must have been how they knew that he and Willow weren’t doing anything. They were recording all of this. Some sick fuck was getting off on this right now.

“I’m not sure I want to show myself to just anyone.”

“Don’t worry,” Faith said as she flipped him. “It won’t be just someone.” Faith whispered Lilah’s name as she bent down to suck on his neck.

So she was the sick fuck. Figures. So why was she helping? Maybe because of that soft spot in her heart? Maybe because she couldn’t have him herself, so she’d record it all and play it back every chance she got?

Wesley flipped Faith back over and ground himself against her. She screamed his name out. 

“Let’s do this now,” she told him as she pulled at her own clothes.

He had his off in a hurry, not wanting Faith to move from the spot underneath him. He felt like he was betraying Willow by doing this with Faith. But he hoped that she would understand. It was beyond their control now.

Faith growled as he entered her swiftly, taking all of him in. She wrapped her strong legs around his torso, meeting his thrusts every time. He pumped into her hard and fast, not letting her take a break in between. And he looked into her eyes the whole time. The challenge in hers made him move even faster, like he was running a race. She was holding back, he could tell.

“Faith, come with me,” he whispered in her ear. 

She arched her back off of the bed and screamed, “Fuck,” loudly in his ears.

Her muscles squeezed him so tightly, he couldn’t help joining her after the next thrust. He’d be lucky to be able to do it again within the hour, much less how many times he and Willow had gone at it.

Panting, Wesley dropped onto the slayer, exhausted after the first go. “If we do it like that, I will not be able to last. You’ll kill me.”

“And you’ll die happy. I will guarantee that,” she groaned underneath him, taking her soft hands and rubbing his back gently.

They settled down, but didn’t move from their spots. Wesley knew that he must be heavy on top of Faith, but she didn’t remove him from the spot. As he finally rolled off, the guards came back into the room. Both Faith and Wesley looked at the two, knowing they weren’t getting out of there anytime soon.

Instead of getting Faith with whatever drug they had injected Willow with, Wesley was the one they had chosen this time. He roared at them as they both threw punches Faith’s way right before they ran from the room.

Faith lay shaking on the cold tile floor, curled into a ball for protection. Wesley was afraid that they had done some permanent damage to her because she didn’t move. He couldn’t move either because at the moment, his body felt like it was on fire. It even hurt to move a finger. Was this how Willow had felt, why she stayed still before pouncing on him? 

The magicks that he had felt just under the surface tried to make their way forth. He didn’t want to hurt Faith by throwing her across the room like Willow had with him. Not knowing what to do, he just stayed where he was, until it killed him not to move. He had to get to Faith, no matter what. 

 

Faith lay on the ground, feeling the cold tile against her cheek. The bastards had punched her hard, attempting to keep her away from Wes. Those punches hurt like mad. Until she could gather herself, she would stay down. The only problem was Wes hadn’t moved either. Could they have hurt him worse? She couldn’t even tell if he had time to react to the invasion, much less defend himself.

Slowly, she raised her body off the floor. Wesley lay on the bed, shaking like a leaf. As Faith approached, she saw that his eyes had turned black. Now that was a weird reaction to a drug. Reaching over to place the blanket on top of him to make him more comfortable, he grabbed her wrist, yanking her on top of him. Her breath left her quickly because of how hard he yanked. 

Before she could move off of him, he rolled the both of them, making Faith be on bottom. The look in his eyes scared her even more than his aggressive behavior. Sure, she’d seen that dark side of him in Los Angeles, and it had scared her. But that was because she didn’t want him to go down that path that she had ventured. 

“Wes, what’s wrong?” she whispered.

“What do you call a woman with two black eyes?”

Oh God, she knew the punch line literally to this joke. “Don’t say it. I already know it. This isn’t you. Come out of it.”

“Where’s that stiff upper lip, Faith,” he taunted her, pressing her down into the bed further.

Faith tried to shift around to gain air. He was so heavy on her, she couldn’t breathe. She had to get through to him, to tell him that the drug couldn’t take him over.

He pinned her hands to the mattress, making movement all but impossible. The black-tinged eyes were still there, looking straight through her, like he wasn’t there. 

“I can’t breathe,” she managed to get out before his lips crushed to hers.

He let up the pressure slightly as he bit and licked her bottom lip, making the sensation much more enjoyable. As she opened her eyes again, she could see some of the blue returning to his eyes. But he didn’t stop. He moved down to her neck, placing little nips as he heated her skin with his whole body. Or maybe it was the drug transferring to her finally. He made his way down to her collarbone, taking his time to taste every part of her.

When he finally made it to her breasts, she was on fire. He nibbled, taking in one nipple while his hand stroked the other. Arching her back to give him ultimate access, she rubbed herself all over him, wanting him desperately to complete the act. No one had ever taken this long with her and it was driving her crazy. If she had her slayer strength she would have flipped him and rode him until he popped. He had other ideas. Taking as much of her as he could, he sucked on her, making her moan with pleasure. Moving over to the other side, he performed the same thing on her other breast. She was so wet now, as soon as he entered her, she’d go off like a rocket.

But he didn’t stop. He made his way down to her navel, licking then blowing, making her whole body shiver.

“I need you, now,” she managed to get out as he traveled lower.

“In due time, love,” he told her with a rough voice. 

He was just as affected as she was, but was taking it slow, which was killing her. Kissing her thighs, she instinctively opened them wide to provide him better access. As he licked at her core, she almost shot off the bed, but he stayed her with a strong arm. Catching her most sensitive part, he drew her into his mouth and suckled gently. She started coming with an intense flash as he removed his mouth and replaced it with something much hotter and harder. Her gasp of surprise made him groan out her name.

As he kissed her, she could taste herself on his lips. His hips moved to touch all the right spots again, so she wasn’t surprised that she was ready to go over the edge again as he thrust into her in a slow, steady rhythm. 

Arching her back as much as possible, she rode the orgasm hard, feeling his release finally. Both were panting, out of breath as he eased off of her and gathered her in his arms. She couldn’t move a muscle after that.

“You killed me,” she told him as he possessively placed a hand over her breast.

“Are you sure?” he asked as he traced her shoulder with his tongue.

“That was incredible. If I’d known you were that good, whoa.”

Wesley chuckled at her comment. “Now you do,” he said as he entered her from behind.

“That damn drug also make you the poster boy for Viagra too?”

“It’ll wear off eventually.” Stroking her slowly, his fingers found her, pushing her up yet again while he finished not long after.

As they lay in each other’s arms for a while, Faith couldn’t believe what the two had just done, and what they would do now for the next couple of days. She had quickly figured out what he had done with Willow. She’d heard enough talk around camp about being chosen. Imagining the two together just didn’t seem right. The man had more sex in the last week to last most guys a lifetime. She hoped he appreciated it because once this was over with, she’d give him a piece of her mind and probably a fist too.

“Shower,” he whispered in her ear.

“Can you keep your hands to yourself?” Faith asked in all seriousness.

“Not on your life,” he answered back while pulling her from the bed.

Faith watched him enter the bathroom, liking how he walked. He was confident now, while in Sunnydale, he was clumsy and awkward. He wasn’t really muscular and hulking like Angel, but he was toned nicely. And hey, part A fit in slot B, so she would not complain. The man really did know how to please a woman.

Turning on the water, he stepped into the steam. He gestured for her to join him, so she complied. The hot water was so welcome to her body since she hadn’t taken a hot one in so long. Efficiently, Wesley washed her, turning her as necessary. She did the same for him, lingering just a little to get him excited again.

He didn’t take long to rise to the occasion, as his hands descended on her breasts to squeeze. Pushing her against the wall, she lifted her leg to give him better access. Instead of diving right in, his hands moved in, teasing her until she was panting out his name.

“Don’t tease me, Wes,” Faith growled out as a finger slipped inside her.

His stroking made her body start that delicious climb to completion. Just as she neared it, he removed his fingers, replacing it with him. He drove her back up against the wall, getting her legs to somehow move around his waist.

Their wet bodies moved against each other, making the friction all that more enjoyable for both, until she clenched around him finally. As she started to come down, he finished, shaking his release with a moan. He smiled at her as he lowered her to the floor.

After drying off, they intertwined their bodies together on the bed and drifted off to sleep. Somewhere in the middle of the night, Wesley woke her up by gently spreading her legs.

“What are you doing?” she asked him as he prepared to find his way into her.

“You looked so lovely lying there all alone. You’re so beautiful.”

Which in turn made her ready for him in a flash. He sure did know how to talk to a woman when needed. No one had ever told her she was beautiful. Hot, probably, sexy, yeah, but beautiful, no way. 

She returned the favor as they awoke from sleep. Climbing on top of him, she slithered all over his body until he was hard and ready. He still hadn’t opened his eyes, letting her do whatever she wanted to his body. She took him inside of her deeply. As he opened his eyes, she grinned down at him, but stopped moving to place a light kiss on his mouth.

“Good morning,” she purred as she sat back up. 

“This is a great way to wake up.”

Talking stopped as Faith moved her body up and down. As his hands came up to touch her breasts, she shooed them away, doing the job herself. His eyes shown brightly as he watched her please herself. She came hard, almost making his eyes cross she held him inside of her so tightly. Keeping up the pace, he finally joined her ecstasy, groaning as he felt the release. She loved to hear him do that. To give him so much pleasure where a few years ago she had almost killed him.

Sure, she’d had lots of guys. But it was always, get some and get gone. That’s not what she had in mind with the guy beneath her. They had three delicious days to try everything. And give that fuck Lilah the best show of her life. Once they were free, she’d somehow come back and slit her throat. No one deserved to be treated the way they were being treated.

“Willow’s gonna be mad,” Faith announced as she lay on top of Wesley still.

“I doubt that. This has been hard on her also.”

“Yeah, well she’s always been a little possessive.”

“She likes girls, Faith.”

“No way,” Faith told him, unconvinced of his statement.

“Her girlfriend died a year ago. Someone shot her.”

“Oh, damn. I didn’t know.”

Faith sighed. They never did get a break.

“And then she killed the human who did it.”

“Fuckin’ A.” Now that was shocking. Willow killed someone. Join the club, Faith thought. 

“She crossed the line.”

“We all have.”

Faith picked her head up to look into Wes’s eyes. The intense blue stared back at her, making her feel safe and secure. They had forged a friendship that she didn’t want to see go away.

“I’m sorry, for everything,” she whispered.

“I know that you are. You’ve told me before.”

“No I haven’t, not with words.”

“But I knew you were, just by looking into your eyes.”

“One other thing, can I kill Lilah when this is over?”

“By all means. I’ll even help you if you wish.”

“You are so bad, Wes,” Faith giggled as she bit into his jaw lightly.

Slowly, he rolled her over, skimming his hot hands up and down her body. His mouth soon joined his hands, making her ready yet again. Looking down at her, he asked with his eyes if he could gain entrance to her. Faith nodded slightly and let him. The leisurely pace he set drove her crazy. Every time he pulled almost out, she groaned in protest, wanting to feel all of him inside of her.

“Faith, open your eyes,” he implored her.

She gradually opened her eyes to stare back at him. Then he picked up the pace slightly, making her hum in the back of her throat.

“It’s just you and me. Don’t think about her, what they want out of us. We won’t let them take it. No matter what.”

She believed in that instant that he’d do anything to get her and Willow out of this mess. Not that she had to rely on him. It was always nice to have allies, someone to watch your back. Or in this case, someone to watch your whole body. She had never trusted anyone more completely than she did him at that moment.

Something broke inside of her. She trusted him. Her release hit her with such force, she thought she’d explode and shatter into a million pieces from the shock of it. She just hoped that she hadn’t injured him in the process. One more thrust, and he gritted his face and finished too.

“Faith, I lo . . . .”

She didn’t want him to finish the word, much less the sentence, so she reached up and kissed him fiercely. Now that threw her for a loop. He couldn’t have started saying what she thought he was going to say. He couldn’t care for her that much. Must be the drugs talking. Unless she felt the same way.

Shifting off of her, he brought her into a hug by wrapping his arms tightly around her body. She settled herself against his chest and nodded off to sleep. 

 

Wesley breathed in Faith’s scent as she lay in his arms, sleeping contentedly. It had come out of his mouth before he could stop it. Faith did stop most of it by kissing him, like she knew what he was about to say. He couldn’t care for her that much. They hardly knew each other on the outside. But on the inside, he knew her intimately. Not sexually, because they had done way too many things now to not, but he knew exactly how she felt about the world. He had felt the same things she had felt. Loneliness, abandonment, the list could go on and on.

He wouldn’t mention the slip-up again unless she did. Was it just a slip, the drugs playing tricks on their minds? It frightened him to think that was the way he felt about her. He did care about her, her well-being, her safety. Time could only tell at that point.

He also had Willow to think about now too. He knew that Willow didn’t care for him in that way, because he didn’t. But he was still responsible for her. And they would try to escape the first opportunity that presented itself.

 

They were released two days later. Faith and Wesley walked hand and hand down to the tent, people staring their way. Faith’s scowl said it all. He knew that his face probably mirrored her own. Whatever this experiment was, it pitted humans against humans. Everyone wanted to survive. That was just natural.

“I hate this,” Faith whispered to him as they made their way back to the tent.

“It’ll pass.”

“I don’t want their fucking pity.”

Willow sat on the makeshift bed as they entered. She looked at them for a moment, and then turned her eyes away in embarrassment.

“Sorry,” she muttered.

Wesley and Faith sat down beside her on the bed. “Nothing to be sorry for Willow.”

“You two OK?”

“Five by five,” Faith answered.

“We ready to get the hell out of here?” Willow asked.

“Damn skippy,” Faith wanted the other two to know.

“Indeed.”

 

Late that night, the three crept out of the tent with watchful eyes. Willow had scoped out the escape route for the last three days. Luckily she was able to procure food and something to put it in, so they wouldn’t go hungry for a while. Wesley slid in any clothes that he had, since the other two didn’t have much. Willow put on the extra pair of pants that he possessed, cinching them up with a rope. He gave Faith his sweater since her top was the thinnest. They managed to cram a thin blanket into the pack too.

“Ready?” Wesley mouthed to the two, desperate to make this escape work.

Slowly, they made their way out of the tent to the gate. Standing in front of it was only one guard. There was only a small light right above the guard, so he hopefully wouldn’t see them coming until it was too late. But the snap of something drew the guard’s attention, making them freeze in their tracks.

Hidden in the shadows, Wesley, Faith and Willow stayed where they were until the guard made his way back to the gate after checking out the noise. As his back was turned, Wesley made his move, putting the guy in a chokehold, cutting off his air supply. The guy clawed, but could not break his hold. He slowly lost consciousness. Faith added a punch to the head in the mix, just in case the guy was faking. He didn’t flinch at her effort.

Wesley dragged off the unconscious guard as Faith and Willow set about opening the gate. The guy’s keys fit perfectly in the slot. Pulling open the gate, the two women motioned for Wesley to hurry up.

“That was too easy,” Faith whispered when they had made it far enough away from the lights of the prison.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly,” Wesley agreed.

“Gift horse,” Willow finished, not wanting to be left out.

“We need to get as far away from here as possible.” Wesley was in take-charge mode, trying to figure out a way to get them all to safety, wherever that might be.

“Anyone know how to hotwire a car?” Willow asked.

Both Willow and Wesley looked pointedly at Faith.

“Hey, I was a juvenile delinquent, not a car thief. Although there was this one time . . . .”

“Faith, we need a vehicle. We’ll figure it out together,” Wesley smirked at her as they silently made their way down a quiet street.

Spotting a lone car in an unlit, out of the way spot, Wesley tried the handle. “Not open.”

Faith snorted her response.

“Here, let me try,” Willow said, moving her hand to the handle.

The door’s lock popped open.

“Magicks returning?” Wesley asked, a smile forming on his lips.

“Yep. Full force. Hell, we don’t even need to hotwire the car.”

“Just don’t blow it up or something, Will.”

“Me? Now why would I do something like that,” she quipped back to Faith.

The three crawled in, putting the bag in the back with Willow.

“Hey, how come you get to drive?” Willow asked the ex-watcher.

“Do you know where you’re going?”

“Well, no. Just askin’.”

Willow waved her hand and the car started automatically.

“Man, that’s just bitchin’,” Faith commented as Wesley took off down the street.

TBC


	7. Los Angeles

Chapter Seven – Los Angeles

Keeping to the back roads, they made good time. Finally seeing a sign, the three realized that they were north of Los Angeles by about two hundred miles.

“So we make it back to LA. Then what?” Faith asked.

“Not sure. Find Angel. Figure out how on earth Wolfram and Hart gained that much power in that short amount of time. There has to be a weakness somewhere in their system.”

“What if they succeed?” Willow asked from the backseat. “Could you kill little kids? This is so not their faults.”

Wesley didn’t think he could, unless forced to defend himself. He didn’t think that the women could either.

“We haven’t gotten to that yet, thank goodness. I suppose when we will, the answer will present itself.”

“Let’s just make sure that doesn’t happen,” Faith added, turning her head to look out the window at the dark night.

Wesley reached over to take Faith’s hand in his, trying to reassure her that he would do everything possible to make that not happen. She squeezed his back in solidarity, not letting go.

Getting to the outskirts of the city, all three noticed that there was something strange. There wasn’t anyone around. No one on the freeways, no one walking, no one. It was like the city of eighteen million, give or take millions in the suburbs, had just disappeared.

“Nuclear attack, Willow?”

“I’m not a Geiger counter, Wes. But I’m not picking up anything like that. Someone used some pretty powerful magicks here though.”

“Just what I was feeling also.”

“Wait, Wes. Do you know how to use magicks?” Faith asked as they sped down the empty freeway.

“Yep. And he’s pretty darn good at it. Not as good as me, mind you. But it’s there.”

“Great. A potential dark slayer with magical powers,” Faith mumbled.

“Yeah, well and maybe one who will have enough power to blow up the world ten times over,” Willow added.

Wesley just cringed. They were both looking at the potential children as being evil. Something that didn’t occur to him. They both had been through some traumatic experiences to make them think along those lines.

“Which will not happen, ladies. Not if I have anything to say about it,” he stated finally.

Faith’s hand clinched tightly in his, while Willow lightly touched his shoulder. He just wished they didn’t rely on him so much. The last time people had trusted him to do the right thing, he had made a big mess out of it. No more talking to demon hamburgers for him.

“I don’t think we’re gonna find him, Wes,” Faith spoke out loud.

“Me either. Gunn, Fred, maybe even Lorne. We have to try.”

“If not, off to Sunnydale then? Maybe it’s still there,” Willow hoped.

Nothing stopped their progress to the Hyperion. Cars were abandoned everywhere, some buildings burned down, but no people. How could you evacuate a city of millions and not leave someone behind?

Pulling up in front of the hotel, the three got out slowly, looking for danger everywhere.

“You smell it?” Willow asked.

Wesley did smell it. The air was tinged with dark magicks. The sickly sweet smell almost made him sick to his stomach. “Yes, I do.”

“I hope I didn’t cause this,” she added.

“Don’t think so Will,” Faith told her, trying to reassure the wicca that she didn’t cause the problem.

“How do you know?”

“Just a hunch is all.”

Wesley led them to the front door of the hotel, opening it slowly to peer inside. It looked like there had been a battle in the lobby. The whole place was torn up, furniture scattered everywhere, burn marks all over the floor and walls.

“This is not good,” Willow whispered.

Wesley just hoped they didn’t find any bodies. Or a big pile of dust, which would be hard to find in the lobby anyway.

“We need lights,” Faith asked, going over to flip the switches on the wall.

The power switched on without a hitch. He just hoped that didn’t alert anyone to their presence. The damage looked even worse in the lighting. The outside light didn’t do the damage justice.

“Oh, damn,” Faith muttered, looking around at the carnage.

Willow swallowed as she looked around, trying to find any evidence of the people she had seen previously. Wesley’s eyes watered briefly as he took in the scene. There was no way anyone would have survived this mess. Why had he? He didn’t remember being in the lobby for any battles. Yes, he remembered fighting, but not here. And it was all vague in his mind.

“No,” Faith cried out as she rushed to the center of the room.

In the middle of the lobby was what he expected to find. No one had touched it since it had happened. A sword lay on its side right in the middle of it all.

“That’s a big pile of dust,” Willow swallowed down. “It can’t be.” 

Her eyes welled up with tears. Faith placed her hand over her mouth, like she might be sick at any moment from the sight.

“Maybe it’s not him,” Wesley started.

“It is,” a voice from the top of the stairs called out.

All three whirled around at the sound. Wesley smoothly picked up the fallen sword to protect the group. Although at that point, he was the weakest of the three.

She slowly made her way down the stairs, dressed somewhat like an Amazon warrior. The woman packed a crossbow over her back, and a gun in her front belt. A short sword sat by her side, ready to be drawn at any time. God, he had never seen her with so many weapons. Angel had taught her how to use each one of them, except for the gun, which Wesley did at one time.

“Cordelia,” Wesley spoke out finally.

“You’re alive. Funny, I thought you were dead.”

Faith and Willow moved to stand beside him. They didn’t like the scene just as much as he didn’t. Something was strange about Cordelia. Something was definitely wrong.

“So what’s up, Cor? You gonna tell us what happened here?” Faith started, but muscles tense for a fight.

Cordelia made her way down to the bottom stairs. She put her head back like she didn’t know where to start. “You wouldn’t believe me if I did. It is just so fucked up right now.”

“Start from the beginning then, Cordy,” he asked, but not lowering his weapon.

“We lost, Wes. All of it. We lost the war. No helping the helpless now. No one left to help except for my little army.”

“How many?” Wesley asked.

“A couple hundred. When they’re not getting picked off by those bastards.”

He hoped those bastards were the same bastards that had taken the three of them. He’d like to know the enemy.

What Wesley wasn’t expecting was for Fred to run in to the room. She was dressed similar to Cordelia, but had changed more dramatically than Cordelia had. Gone was the long, brown hair to be replaced by a short cut, and a blank look on her face.

“What are they doing here?” she said with a flat voice, staring straight at Wesley.

“Alive, believe it or not.”

“We need to leave. They’re coming,” she told Cordelia, not looking at him any longer.

“We need to move, people,” Cordelia announced, a little fear in her eyes.

“What are we dealing with, Cordelia?” he asked as Fred led the way to the basement and down to the sewers.

“You don’t want to know,” she answered as she pushed them to move quickly.

They ran for what seemed like hours until Fred let up some, to a walk finally. At one point, Faith had grabbed Wesley’s hand just to reassure him and she that no matter what, she would back him up. 

“This isn’t right,” Willow called to him in his mind.

Willow could speak to him telepathically. It could come in handy. “I agree,” he thought in his mind.

Fred rapped on a door three times, admitting them to a vast underground room. People milled about, sharpening weapons and eating. Some were sleeping in corners. There was a two to one margin of women to men. Each seemed to have a job to do.

“This way,” Cordelia called out to the three.

She led them to an enclosure, shutting the rest of the others out with a tarp. Sitting down on a pile on the floor, she gestured for them to do the same.

Faith sat down beside him, throwing the pack they had brought in back of her. Willow sat to his other side, keeping very close to him.

“Cordelia,” he sighed finally. “What has happened?”

“Beings calling themselves the Braxx have been attacking now for the last six, eight months. There was nothing we could do. They took out millions. There was chaos. We tried to stop it. You three disappeared after the first attack. We thought that they took you.”

Wesley didn’t remember fighting any kind of creatures except for the Beast, whom Angelus had finally destroyed. He had always thought that there was something more to the Beast, that something must have been in league with it. Had that reared its ugly head?

“Apparently not. The rest of the population either fled or died. Demon scavengers cleaned out what was left of the carnage. I’m surprised you didn’t get attacked on the way in.”

“No, no attack, Cordelia,” Willow added.

Then it all clicked into place. He didn’t think Lilah had anything to do with this chaos. Now his thinking was more on the line of trying to raise an army to defeat this entity, not to defeat the forces of good. At least that’s what he hoped was happening. Except, Wolfram and Hart was in it for themselves. To protect themselves from these creatures.

“We think Wolfram and Hart is behind our abduction. They’re trying to raise an army.”

Cordelia shook her head. “I don’t think they’re involved either. They fled right along with the others. Heard they took residence up north somewhere.”

“Yeah, that’s about it,” Faith spoke up.

Fred entered the room with drinks for the group, sitting down close to Cordelia. Her eyes didn’t stray from the ground.

“What happened to the others? Gunn, Lorne?”

“All dead. Angel made the last stand at the hotel. Thought he could draw the creatures into battle. They staked him.”

Cordelia didn’t even wince as she told Wesley that Angel was gone. She must be holding it in, he thought. Cordy was much too emotional, especially about Angel, to not let it out. Fred just sat, blankly staring at the ground.

“Gunn was killed early on, Lorne I don’t know. Caritas was burned to the ground quickly.”

Caritas was already burned to the ground long before Wesley left. Why would she say that?

“Where’s Connor?” Wesley added.

“Who?” Cordelia asked.

“An associate of mine,” Wesley quickly covered.

Faith’s hand tightened on his. Willow visibly flinched. They both knew Connor. Why didn’t Cordelia?

“Maybe we can figure out a strategy now that you’re here, Wes. We’ve been holding our own, but this isn’t going to end unless we do something drastic.”

Whatever this was, Wesley thought, had to end soon. He couldn’t see how the group in the other room could survive otherwise.

“Could we have a place to rest, Cordelia? We’ve been traveling through the night.”

“Of course,” Cordelia sighed.

“And could you tell me something, Cordelia?” Willow started. 

“Yes, Willow.”

“Uh, I need to throw up. Where can I do that?”

Wesley immediately helped Willow up. Cordelia led them to a makeshift bathroom, leaving Wesley outside. Faith followed to check on the wicca. So, it happened, he thought. He was hoping they weren’t successful. Maybe she was just sick from hearing the story. There could be another explanation. Cordelia marched out soon after, scowl on her face. 

“Take the room across the way,” she pointed out. “Willow will be closer if she’s ill again. We’ll talk later.”

Willow came out with Faith supporting her. Her face was a little pale, but she slightly smiled at him. “Better.”

Faith frowned at Wesley as they led her to the room that Cordelia had pointed to. It was small, but had a pallet and blankets. Willow slowly lowered herself to the pallet and laid her head down.

“Do you think . . . ?” Wesley started to ask.

“Don’t know. The whole thing is makin’ me sick too,” Faith answered for the wicca.

Wesley sat down next to Willow, and stroked her back to reassure her. “I’m sorry, Willow.”

“Hey, just what she said. Could be all the dark magicks floating in the air.”

“Could be,” Wesley answered as he looked at Faith. “Rest, both of you.”

“You too,” Faith pointed out. “You were driving.”

So they all three piled on the floor together, Wesley in the middle again. He pulled Willow up close, wrapping his arms around her. Faith then wrapped herself around him.

“What if it’s all true?” Willow wondered.

“Then we will deal with it as it comes,” Wesley answered her, taking Faith’s hand and holding it to his chest. Willow did the same with the hand that he had placed over her waist to hold her.

“We don’t belong here,” Faith mumbled.

“I am coming to that conclusion.”

 

Wesley awoke to two women draped over the front of him. Faith laid her head on his chest, while Willow had her head on his shoulder. Both had their legs intertwined with his. He couldn’t move if he wanted to. 

So he worked in his mind, trying to figure out a solution to the problem. It seemed that they were not in their reality anymore. None of what happened made any sense. Connor did not exist, Lorne’s club had already burned down in the wrong order of the events in this timeline, and the rest of the team was gone, except Fred and Cordelia. It just didn’t make sense in his brain. 

The things that were the same were Lilah getting her head cut off and Wolfram and Hart looking out for themselves. At least that made sense.

His back was starting to hurt from being in one position too long. But trying to shift would wake up his two bedmates. Even his arms were pinned to the ground underneath each of them. One was falling asleep under Willow and the other was useless underneath Faith.

Moving slightly, he heard a contented sigh escape Willow’s lips. But he really needed to move. As he tried to ease his arm out from underneath her, she bit, and then licked his earlobe. And Faith started making circles with her hand on his stomach.

“Wenches. You’ve been awake all along,” he started, hearing giggles coming from each of them.

Faith poked him in the ribs as Willow gave him a peck on the cheek. 

“Jerk,” Willow added.

“Bastard,” Faith said, raising her head to look at him.

“My back is killing me. I need to move. The two of you have me pinned down.”

Faith moved up to kiss the other cheek, but not letting him move.

“We could have our way with him?” Willow suggested.

Wesley felt a blush creep up his throat and cover his face in flames.

“Told you so, Will.”

“Yeah. You were right, Faith.”

“Made you blush,” they said in unison.

God, he had thought that they were entirely serious. But they finally let him move so he could turn to his side, bones cracking along the way.

“He’s getting old,” Willow said from behind him.

“We could start calling him old man,” Faith pointed out.

The amusement in Faith’s eyes warmed him. She winked at him as he pulled her close. Willow gave a contented sigh as she wound a hand around his middle. He never thought he could be this relaxed being between two beautiful women. Hell, most guys would give anything for the very position he was in at the moment.

“That big brain of yours working overtime?” Faith whispered against his lips. Then she brushed up against his erection.

“You could say that,” he quipped.

“Dirty old man,” Faith called him.

“I’m interrupting something, aren’t I?” Willow said against Wesley’s back. “I’ll track down Cordelia and see what’s up. See you guys later.”

Willow quickly got up and left the other two alone. Wesley buried his face in Faith’s hair.

“Don’t tell me. A threesome would have been just great, wouldn’t it?”

Wesley snorted against her neck, then gently placed his lips over her pulse-point and sucked. She moved her neck so he could have better access.

“There’s no drugs now,” Faith pointed out.

“I know that,” he reminded her.

Pushing up the sweater he had lent to Faith, he molded her breasts to his hands, stroking through the thin top she had on. Faith sat up and pulled them off, throwing them to the side. Coming down on top of him, she pinned his hands to his sides and licked his neck in return. Lightly running her tongue over his scar, she found the veins in his neck and bit down gently. He almost bucked her off.

“Maybe we will ask Will to do this with us the next time,” Faith mentioned as she moved down his body.

Wesley blushed profusely at her comment. Pulling his shirt over his head, she laid down over his chest, rubbing her breasts to cause friction. The feel of his chest against hers ignited her. Working her way down, she yanked his jeans down and off, taking the briefs with it.

She slowly circled her tongue over his hardness, gradually sucking the head in her mouth. She knew she had him when she heard the sharp intake of breath. Taking him all the way in, she suckled and stroked him with her tongue and teeth until she almost brought him to the brink. Then she pulled him out with a pop, mounting him swiftly. 

Wesley was not going to let her do all the work this time. He sat up, taking her ultra-sensitive nipple in his mouth and sucked hard. Arching her back, she let him have access while she kept pumping up and down. When his hand came down in between them, she gripped his head, wanting him closer to her. The orgasm hit her long and hard, making her see stars. She would have screamed if he hadn’t taken her lips at the last moment. He groaned finally, releasing in her in shaking waves of pleasure.

Resting against his shoulder, she slowed her breathing until she could actually look into his eyes. He lowered his head, placing his lips against hers, gently dancing his tongue out to soothe her. She had never had someone this attentive in her life. 

Willow re-entered as they sat together, intertwined on the bed, just like they had been right after they had finished pleasuring each other. 

“Don’t mind me. Not like I haven’t seen any of it before.”

Faith was the one who blushed this time. “Prison just jades ya, you know.”

“So, do you have anything for us?” Wesley asked Willow, oblivious to the wicca’s presence.

“Not really. These people are really tight-lipped. But one thing was really curious.”

“What, Will?” Faith asked.

“You had an audience, and it wasn’t me.”

Faith and Wesley looked at each other, eyes widening.

“Who?” Wesley asked her.

“Fred. That’s why I decided to come back in here. Thought that I at least would be safe. There’s just something about her eyes that isn’t right.”

Faith swallowed tightly. She really didn’t mind Willow being with them at the moment. She didn’t feel that Willow was competition. What she did mind was the skinny Texan. It just didn’t sit well with her.

“Like they’re dead?”

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly Wes,” Willow answered. “Except as she watched the two of you, they weren’t dead. It looked like she wanted to kill you both.”

“Well, if I give her a piece of my mind or maybe a fist, she’ll keep her eyes to herself,” Faith wanted the other two to know.

“Faith, there’s something really wrong with her. I don’t think hitting her is going to help the situation one bit.”

“Might make me feel better.”

Wesley stroked her naked back lightly to calm her down. Willow came up behind her and placed a few kisses along her spine.

Wesley’s eyes twinkled. “We can make you feel better, Faith.”

“OK, you guys,” Faith started. Both Wesley and Willow broke out in giggles. “I am not a homophobe or anything. I just like to choose who watches. Fred just makes me ill.”

Willow slapped her lightly on the back, and then threw her shirt and sweater to her.

“I guess it’s time for a talk with Cordelia then ladies?”

“Oh, we’re ladies now, are we? Not just your playthings?” Willow chimed in.

“Well, if you put it that way,” Wesley added, gaining a light punch from Faith for the comment.

“Get dressed, you pervert,” Faith finished.

“Believe me, you two weren’t the ones who made me one.”

Both Willow and Faith shrieked his way.

“You’ll pay.”

“We’ll get you.”

TBC


	8. Not In Kansas Anymore

Chapter Eight – Not In Kansas Anymore

The three eventually found Cordelia talking with one of her troops at the entrance where they had first arrived.

“Check the south side. Make sure the barriers are holding,” Cordelia told the girl before she waved the girl away.

“Cordelia, we really do need to speak with you,” Wesley asked.

Cordelia nodded to them, pointing the way to a quiet place to speak.

Wesley started. “There are some inconsistencies in our memories from what little you’ve told us.”

“What? You think I’m lying?”

“No, we don’t Cordelia,” Willow tried to reassure the woman.

“Something’s just off, Cor,” Faith added.

“Yeah, something’s off. You got that right. You three running off at the first sign of trouble. This whole thing falling apart. Well, that’s not right either.”

“Cordelia, we’re not accusing you of anything. And we didn’t run off. As a matter of fact, we really don’t remember what happened in the last six months.”

Cordelia’s eyes went wide with that admission from Wesley.

“What do you remember? Jasmine’s takeover? Angel killing her. Demons attacking from all sides because of what Jasmine did to them?”

That was not the way it happened in Wesley’s universe. How would he explain to her that wasn’t what happened? 

“When you look at me now, what do you see? Do you see the man I was before?” he asked.

“Yeah, you’re still the same self-righteous SOB that doesn’t give a damn about anything or anyone but himself.”

“That’s about right,” Faith said, a smirk on her face.

“Faith, not helping,” Wesley informed her.

“And not in the least bit true,” Willow whispered.

“What are some unsavory things I have done, Cordelia?”

“Well, you had an affair with Fred behind Gunn’s back. You broke Faith out of prison to get Angel back and ended up almost killing her.”

“One out of two, watcher,” Faith added.

“Let’s see. Your little foray with Buffy didn’t exactly earn you any points with Angel. Neither did that time with me. And you had that bitch Lilah at your beck and call.”

Wesley couldn’t believe what he was hearing. She would have him believe that he had relationships with every woman he knew.

“Can’t keep score anymore,” Faith scowled at him.

“How about you Willow? You two screw?” Cordelia asked, entirely serious.

“That’s none of your business, Cordelia,” Willow answered, hackles raised.

“God, why is it you can’t keep it in your pants,” Cordelia finished, sneering Wesley’s way.

“I don’t believe we’re in Kansas anymore,” Willow wanted her companions to know.

“Fuck Kansas. How about Oz tilted upside down?” Faith quipped.

“I don’t know what your problem is Wes, but we really need help. If we don’t stop these creatures here and now, they’ll eventually spread. We’ve contained them. But we can’t destroy them.”

Now this was something Wesley could actually wrap his brain around, instead of the bizzaro world they happened to land in. At least if he was demon hunting, he couldn’t be this Lothario that Cordelia claimed he was.

Another one of Cordelia’s troops waved her over urgently, so she took off without a backward glance.

“What the fuck is going on?” Faith asked.

“Man, you get around. Who would have thunk?” Willow added.

Wesley glared at her, not wanting her to think that this was the real him. Faith just smirked back at him. He just sighed, putting his head back and looking at the ceiling in disgust.

“So we just need to figure out how to get out of this hell and back to where we need to be?” Faith wanted to know.

“In simple terms, yes. Exactly. But knowing that the Wesley that belongs here is such that he is, makes me . . . .”

“Ill?” Willow finished.

“No. I was going to say envious. But from the looks I am getting from Fred at the moment, I’ll take my real life any day.”

Faith and Willow turned to see Fred staring holes straight through them. The knife in her hand twitched slightly.

“Wonder if she knows how to use that thing?” Faith wondered.

“Let’s hope not. Who could have sent us here? To get us out of the way?” Willow responded, brain working.

Wesley watched how Cordelia directed her little army as Willow posed her questions. She was efficient, strong, a good leader. She was caring, confident, and knowledgeable. Although she had gained some power back in the other universe, she was never this able to take command. This Cordelia must have had different experiences to lead her to this future.

“The only enemies we had were Angelus and the Beast, both of which are gone,” Faith addressed the two.

“The First,” Willow sighed. “We still have to fight him or her, or whatever it is. Might have had the power to send us away.”

“Which means we’re important to defeating it for it to send us to an alternate reality,” Wesley concluded. “Why don’t we talk to Fred?”

“No,” the two women answered.

“Then I will.”

“Bring protection in the form of a knife or gun.”

“She won’t hurt me.”

“Don’t count on it, Wes. If looks could kill,” Faith wanted him to know. “Besides, I like how you look. Wouldn’t want to mar that pretty face, now would we.”

Willow snickered at her comment.

“Not funny, Faith. I’ll be fine.”

“I know you will. Just don’t turn your back on the bitch.”

Willow shook her head in agreement. Wesley headed off to find Fred, leaving the two women alone.

“Feeling better?” Faith asked the wicca.

“A little. The dark magicks are still swirling around here, although not as bad in here as it was outside.”

“You’re not just makin’ excuses are you?”

“Oh God, I hope not. I want it to be the magicks.”

Faith also wanted it to be the magicks. She hadn’t been feeling all that well either. In for a penny, in for a pound as the saying went. If they didn’t get out of this reality, the three of them would sure make an interesting little family.

 

Wesley finally caught up with Fred a few minutes later in a lightly traveled corridor.

“Fred, could I speak with you?”

“What?” she answered shortly.

Wesley racked his brain on how to start the conversation. Should he just dive in and tell Fred that something wasn’t right, or try to draw her out by asking her vague questions?

“I wanted to see how you were,” he decided to say, wanting to take the vague route for the time being.

“Fine.”

One words answers? Not from his reality’s Winifred. She would be telling him exactly what she ate and when and how much by now. And his head would be spinning.

“I know this must be hard for you. It’s been very hard on the three of us. You see, we don’t seem to remember much of what happened in the past six months.”

Fred’s expression changed a little. It didn’t look so solemn.

“Well, what do you remember?” she asked, using more than one word now.

“Not much, actually. We were held prisoner up north. Not much before then.”

“You left us, without a word.”

“Not my fault, Fred.”

Fred looked down at the ground, trying to not have Wesley see the emotions run through her eyes. Her shoulders slumped over.

“We thought you were dead,” Fred cried softly.

“I’m not dead. Just confused is all.”

Fred closed the distance and hugged him tightly. “When Charles died, I didn’t know what to do. Cordy took good care of me. Angel did too. Now he’s gone. All I have left is Cordy. Don’t you take her away from me too.”

Why would he take Cordy away from Fred? Cordy wasn’t his. Unless Fred was thinking about what Cordy had said earlier. He wondered when in this reality Wesley had his affair with the woman?

“I won’t take her away from you,” Wesley said to Fred.

“Good. Because I’ll kill you if you try,” Fred told him, pulling away from him abruptly. “Of course, you have that bitch with you now. She must really be a good fuck or else you would be back with Cordy now.”

Now that did shock Wesley. Fred never even said darn, much less a crass word such as that. And he was suspecting that Fred’s attachment to Cordy was something other than just friends.

“It seems that you care for Cordelia, Fred. Am I right?”

“She’s brave and honest. She treats me with respect. Something you never even thought to do. You were mean and cruel to me, Wesley. You treated me like I was nothing. You got what you wanted and moved on. So why don’t you move on now?”

Indeed he would once he figured out how to get out of there permanently.

“I apologize if I ever treated you with disrespect Fred. Things have changed though. I’m not the same person I was before.”

Well, he didn’t want to tell her literally, because he didn’t want anyone to know their theory.

“Why don’t we see about that?” Fred told him, bringing the knife she had sheathed at her side up to stab him in the shoulder.

The pain seared down his whole side, immobilizing his arm. He thought she was just going to leave the thing sticking out of him, but she yanked it hard, sending him crashing to the ground.

“Next time, it might be something a lot more, vital,” she told him, looking down at his groin.

Panting through the pain, Wesley watched as she walked away, wiping his blood off on her pants. He held the shoulder wound tightly, trying to stop the bleeding. Sitting there gathering his strength, he heard a shout coming from the main part of the underground compound. 

“Attack,” was all he could make out until he felt the explosion off in the distance.

Just what he needed at the moment. They were being attacked by something and his shoulder burned like fire. Pushing himself up from the floor, he staggered back the way he had come.

Faith and Willow stood shoulder to shoulder, watching the chaos happen around them. Everyone seemed to have a job to do, so they just stood out of the way until they were needed.

“What’s happening?” Wesley said from behind them.

“Hell if we know,” Faith answered, not turning to look at him.

Willow’s eyes darted around, trying to figure out where the attack was coming from. “Wesley, where do you think . . . ?” she started to ask as she turned to look at him. She squeaked when she saw the blood flow from his shoulder.

Faith turned automatically, thinking that something dangerous was behind them, taking the cue from Willow’s noise.

“Your shoulder,” Faith swallowed. 

She immediately put her hand to it to stop the bleeding. Wesley flinched in pain, face pale with the blood lose. Willow joined in, easing him down to the floor. Slowly, she curled her hand around Faith’s, generating a warm glow underneath both of their hands. Gradually, the wound closed up, knitting together the jagged edges, stopping the flow of blood from Wesley’s body.

“What did we just do?” Faith asked slowly.

“I’m not sure,” Willow said, a look of shock on her face. “I just knew what to do.”

Wesley looked at the two women, grateful that they had helped him heal that quickly. “That was amazing. When did you learn how to do that, Willow?”

“One time, with Buffy, I healed her. But with dark magicks. This wasn’t dark magicks, Wes.”

Willow pulled her hand away from Faith’s and watched as Wesley’s blood was absorbed into her body. Faith watched the same happen to hers. Wesley swallowed hard as he saw the transformation.

Just then, the thing that had tried to break into the compound managed to accomplish its task. The wall smashed in, revealing a vile creature with six arms, and pus dripping from its fangs. The creature was almost twice as tall as a human, with muscles rippling. Blue-green scales glowed as the thing bellowed its anger. 

“The Braxx,” Wesley said out loud.

Faith noticeably shivered. That thing would be difficult to take down. Both Faith and Willow grabbed the rapidly healing Wesley off of the floor to get him away from the fight. Only he didn’t let go of their hands. He felt that same power as the two helped him heal. He just knew in his mind that the three could take down this creature quickly if they concentrated hard enough. 

“We need to go,” Willow implored. 

“Your eyes are glowing,” Faith mentioned, but not moving.

“Whose are?” Willow asked.

“Both of yours,” she answered back.

“Join the club,” Wesley wanted the two to know.

“What’ll we do?”

“Stop this demon before it hurts anyone else,” Wesley told the two women, walking forward into the battle.

“This is not gonna work, Wes,” Faith told him as they marched toward the demon.

“Just concentrate. Think about killing that thing.”

“Not hard to do, Wes. That’s what I’m built for.”

Wesley squeezed each of their hands, linked them tighter, more securely. Not only did their eyes glow now, their hands were glowing also.

“Neat trick,” Willow said, wondering what in the world they were going to do next.

The Braxx marched straight for the three immobile beings. Wesley held up his both hands, like he was going to shield himself from the beast in front of them. A beam of light and power emanated from their joining, flashing right to the Braxx. It jerked and swayed under the onslaught. It finally screamed, then exploded into tiny pieces.

Faith pulled the other two back, shielding them from the creature’s explosion, slamming them hard to the ground. 

“Faith,” Wesley yelled after he was able to catch his breath.

“That fucking hurt,” Faith moaned from on top of the other two.

“You two are heavy,” Willow groaned from the very bottom of the pile.

Wesley quickly rolled off the wicca, taking Faith in his arms to check her over.

“You’re hurt,” Wesley cried, looking over Faith carefully.

“She’ll be OK,” Willow groggily told him, slipping into unconsciousness.

Wesley joined the two in their state, sliding all the way to the ground after them, body drained of power.

TBC


	9. The Braxx

Chapter Nine – The Braxx

Willow awoke in the same room that Faith, Wesley and she had shared not long before. Faith lay on her stomach in between the two of them. Wesley had his hand linked with hers, lying on top of Faith’s back. Her clothing was burned, but she couldn’t see any blood coming from the holes. Gingerly, she raised the shirt with her other hand, to check the slayer’s injuries for herself.

“She better?” Wesley whispered, not wanting to wake Faith from her slumber.

Willow saw healing cuts, bruising, but no immediate problems.

“Yeah,” Willow sighed. “You OK?”

Wesley shook his head yes. Willow waved him over, unlinking their hands over Faith’s unconscious body.

Wesley moved his arm stiffly until Willow shoved up his shirt to take a look at the shoulder.

“It’s healing,” she mouthed, dropping her head to his chest.

She could feel the thumping of his heart in her ear. His arms came around to cradle her gently. They had just accomplished something she had never seen before. They defeated a creature with their minds, making it explode before their very eyes. If the three of them were that powerful linked together, they might be able to defeat all of the Braxx and solve the problem once and for all. If it didn’t kill them in the process.

Wesley stroked her back, hand warm and comforting. His mind must be working a mile a minute, just like hers. What they had just done was impossible. Did he think that it was impossible too?

Leaning away from him, she saw the same look in his eyes, the what the fuck did we just do look that she was sure mirrored her own. And she felt like crying because she knew how that kind of power could corrupt. She had felt how that kind of power would corrupt. She had used that kind of power on her friends and had almost killed them in the process. Wesley shook his head no like he knew what she was thinking. And lowered his head to kiss her cheek. Instead, she moved her head so that he was really kissing her. He seemed to know that she needed something right then and sighed into the kiss. Gently, he opened her lips, slowly stroking her tongue with his until she relaxed into him.

But she still couldn’t stop the tears from falling. No matter how much he tried to comfort her, they still came.

“It’s OK. I’m here, Willow,” he whispered against her lips.

She kept thinking as they kissed that she couldn’t just love this guy. Yeah, she loved Tara, and Tara was gone now. And she loved Buffy and Xander. This man knew exactly what she needed at the moment. Kind of like Tara, but not. She felt protected and safe with him around, where with Tara she didn’t feel that. She felt loved and comforted, but not protected. Tara had so many other issues that Willow couldn’t even comprehend, issues dealing with her parents and her own insecurities. But Wesley seemed to push his aside, until all she could feel was he. Sure, she would love Tara until the end of her days. Right then she just wanted to feel needed.

In the dim light of the room, Wesley lowered her to the ground, still lightly kissing her, not letting go. His hands gently molded to her hips, urging her closer, until she was lying on top of him. Rubbing her back, he calmed her mind and her nerves until she was sighing with contentment. Maybe it was an aftereffect of whatever spell the three had just performed. She just knew she needed to be comforted by him right that instant. To feel connected to him.

Rolling, he took over. Willow spread her legs, feeling his arousal as she did. This all was so new to her. A joining for a need, nothing more. Or was it something more? His hands slowly inched down until he came to her pants, pulling at the rope to release them. Looking down, Wesley smiled as he undid the knot, lowering them until she was able to kick them off. He then took his mouth and nibbled on her jaw as his hands roamed up her shirt, making her squirm. 

A moan gathered low in her throat, but she kept most of it in, not wanting to wake a comatose Faith. She wanted Wesley all to herself for the moment. Not that she wouldn’t share at some point in the future. Sliding his hand down, he found her hot and wet. The other hand was gently rolling a nipple in between fingers.

Willow needed him right then. So she undid his pants, pushing them down so she could touch also. He sucked in his breath as she stroked him hard. Removing his hand, he spread her legs a little more and taking her mouth with his, he thrust in swiftly. His kiss took in the moan that tried to escape her lips. Gliding in and out of her, his hand moved back down again to find her, rubbing lightly. The friction he created everywhere took her up and over the edge, muscles inside of her squeezing him tight. After another couple of strokes, he groaned his release into her, his whole body taunt as he did.

Both panted as they lay in each other’s arms. Wesley rolled off to her side, gathering her in his arms. Willow looked over to see if Faith had moved at all, now feeling a little guilty that they took their pleasure as she laid mending. But the slayer hadn’t moved one bit. Wesley laid his head over her heart, hand tangling in her hair as he fell asleep in her arms.

 

Faith felt cold as she awoke from her slumber. Her whole back was tender, like she’d been in a battle. Then her mind clicked. She had been in a battle. Just a different kind of battle. She hadn’t meant to put herself between the blast and the other two. It just happened on instinct. Stiffly, she rolled over to find Wesley and Willow not beside her. They lay near her, curled into each other, light blanket from the backpack covering them. Now she knew why she had felt cold.

Silently she walked over to the two. Since the light was very dim, she could only make out a few features. The pallet they had made only had room on Willow’s side, so she scooted under the covers, only to see Willow’s pants lying on the ground next to it. So they’d been up to a little hanky panky while she slept off her injury. So what? Did it bother her?

“Be still. We’re sleeping,” Willow called, pulling Faith in beside her.

“Will?”

“Yeah?”

“Pants,” Faith said as she handed the wicca her clothing.

“I wondered where those ended up.”

“Shh,” Faith chided, giggling a little. 

So maybe it did bother her a little. This was Willow, the girl who hated her guts at one point for taking the precious Buffy away from her. She could tell that Willow was jealous of her because Buffy and she had a lot in common. Faith just hoped that Willow was over that now.

“I can hear your mind whirling over here, Faith,” Willow said, turning to face her.

“Yeah, right? I think that loud.”

“Nah. Just a guess. Are you angry?”

“I’m not sure. I’ll have to get back to you on that one.”

Wesley shifted in his sleep, turning over to his stomach and mumbling.

“He’s cute when he sleeps. Kind of reminds me of Xander.”

Faith snorted. She did not want anyone, especially the man next to Willow to remind her of Xander. Xander was lucky she hadn’t killed him that night when he came to talk with her. But she didn’t have it in her to kill him. Just like she never had it in her to kill her watcher. Both men had tried with her, caring for her, and she had pushed them away cruelly. Now she had a chance to start again.

“When have you seen Xander sleeping?”

“Oh, plenty of times,” Willow told her.

“Don’t tell me you two, you know?”

“No. Never happened. He’s my best friend. No getting it on, as you would say. Only a few lust bunnies, nothing more.”

Good, they didn’t also share Xander. That made Faith feel a little better. “Sometimes complicates things.”

“You didn’t happen to hook up with Oz, did you?”

“No way. He was yours.”

Willow smiled in the shadows. “So now, here we are. What do we do?” she whispered.

“Don’t know. Jealous?”

“I’ll have to get back to you on that.”

Both women giggled again. So neither one of them understood their feelings at the moment. Would Wesley pick one over the other? She remembered he had almost said the L word to her. But that must have been the drug talking. Could one person love two people? Not like she had experience loving one person. 

Willow snuggled up against Faith, settling down until she was comfortable. Did Willow have feelings toward her? She’d never had a girl feel like that towards her. But Willow hadn’t made any moves at all. For which she was eternally grateful. In prison, she had women proposition her. But she’d never taken any of them up on it. And she didn’t think she would with Willow either. 

“Not like that,” Willow mumbled out.

“Like what?”

“Friends, OK?”

“Yeah, friends.”

Faith shut her eyes, feeling the need to sleep some more after their battle.

 

“Get up,” Cordelia called, poking him in the ribs with a big stick.

Wesley opened his eyes to see Cordelia standing over him, looking all the roll of great Amazon woman come to life. It kind of scared him a little. Willow and Faith, who were cuddled up next to him, came awake too, blinking sleep out of their eyes.

“It was you,” she pointed to Wesley. “How did you do it?”

“Do what? Oh, that. We don’t quite know yet. Whatever we did worked.”

“Then you’ll do it again, until those things are gone. Let’s go,” Cordelia ordered.

“Listen, Cordelia, doing whatever we did took a lot of energy from all of us. We need to recharge. Until then, you have to realize . . . .”

“Look. The only thing I realize is I keep losing people every time one of those creatures attacks. I end up burying someone.”

Wesley sat up, putting his head between his legs. “It’s not that we don’t want to help you. We will.”

“There’s another one. In the south sector. If we hurry, we can catch it. Destroy it.”

He still didn’t think that Cordelia got the answer. He didn’t know what kind of powers the three of them possessed. What if this time it didn’t work, or it killed one of them or all of them?

“We should try, Wes. Right?” Faith asked.

“If we get some food, I’m ready to go,” Willow added, standing up.

“Are you two sure? I don’t want to put either one of you in any danger.”

“Hey, danger’s my middle name,” Faith quipped, eliciting smiles from himself and Willow.

“I thought it was fuck, but that’s just me,” Willow answered back, smiling in jest.

“No cat fights, ladies. We apparently have a job to do.”

Cordelia just looked at the three of them like they’d lost their minds.

 

It took them an hour to reach what Cordelia referred to as the south sector. Climbing up from the sewers, Faith raised the manhole cover and looked around. Being in the center of the city, things didn’t look so good. Buildings were either destroyed or falling down. This must have been where most of the battles had taken place.

Slowly, Faith lifted the cover off and set it down. Reaching into the hole, she helped Wesley up and out, who in turn helped Willow. Cordelia shooed their hands away. Faith noticed that Fred was nowhere in sight. Thank goodness for small favors.

“Wonder where the Texan got herself off to?” Faith murmured in Wesley’s ear.

“I’d rather she not be here, if you don’t mind,” he answered quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear.

He pointed to his shoulder that had been injured. Faith’s eyes widened in recognition. So the scrawny little bitch had been the one to stab him. She’d fix that problem once she saw Fred again. Wesley just looked at her, eyebrows up and pleading.

“No trouble, Faith,” he wanted her to know.

“Told you so.” 

Wesley reached up and stroked her cheek, smiling down at her.

“Where are these creatures, Cordelia?” Willow asked behind them.

“My guys sighted them not too far from here.”

Willow looked around while Wesley and Faith did a little investigating of the ground, trying to sight any evidence of the creature.

“What do you know about them, Cordelia?” Wesley asked, wanting as much information about them as possible.

“They appear out of nowhere, probably with the use of magicks. They can track a human for miles. And they’re merciless. They can rip apart a human in seconds flat.”

“So we won’t see them until they’re on us?” Faith asked, swallowing slightly at the thought.

“Most of the time, yes.”

Wesley slid his hand down Willow’s arm to take it in his. Faith reached over to take his other. And nothing happened.

“Not working,” Willow mumbled in his ear.

Wesley went through what happened the last time. The two had healed his injury, absorbing his blood into their bodies, and then they had somehow destroyed the demon.

“Blood,” he told the two.

Reaching behind Faith, he pulled a dagger from her back pocket. He sliced both of his hands.

“What are you doing?” Faith yelled, worried look on her face.

“I think that blood has something to do with the power.”

“You better be right,” Willow said. “Because it’s coming right for us.”

Cordelia and the rest of her people scrambled as they saw the creature head straight for them. They really did just pop out of nowhere. They either must be invisible until they had sighted their prey, or they were jumping through portals, or any number of other things.

Grabbing Willow and Faith’s hands again, he concentrated hard, thinking about the demon exploding in his mind.

“Explode, you fucker,” Faith said out loud.

Where their palms should feel slick and slightly sticky from the blood, Wesley felt none of that. He looked down to see their joined hands glowing. The same as they had done before. Then he looked at Willow and saw that her eyes glowed too. It was working. Could they accomplish the task before the demon took a chunk out of them?

The demon before them started screeching, like it was in pain. More pus started falling from its mouth, until it turned green. From the burns on Faith’s back, the pus must be acidic. They needed a better strategy next time when they confronted it. He really didn’t relish being sprayed or having Faith be injured.

“Get down,” he shouted to the two women just as the creature’s eyes bulged out.

Covering the two, the thing exploded into pieces, just like before. The pieces rained down on him, causing him to scream in agony. Maybe Faith was the better choice to be on top. Slayer healing went a long way. Then he passed out from the pain.

 

“OK, no more glowy eyes and hands until we figure out how to not be so close to those things,” Willow argued with Faith.

“Hey, no prob with that. You think that he’ll wake up any time soon?” Faith asked.

“I hope so,” Willow answered, looking down at the unconscious Wesley.

“We could try the healing thing on him?”

“And how much energy do you have at the moment, Faith?”

Willow was getting scared, really scared. Their power had worked well. It was just the aftermath that worried her. Wesley had been out for the remainder of the day. It was now night, although one wouldn’t know it from where they were underground.

“Not a lot. Maybe it won’t take a lot. We have to try,” Faith told her, worry crossing her face too.

“OK. Give me your hand. Lay yours on his back first, like we did before.”

Faith took her shaking hand and put it on Wesley’s back. Willow mirrored her actions, curling her fingers around the slayer’s hand. Faith’s started to glow from their connection. Willow could see sweat pop out on Faith’s forehead. And she could feel it on her back, even though it was cool in the room.

“Is it working?” Willow asked, words slurring slightly.

Faith just nodded her head yes. “We have to stop,” she managed to croak out.

Willow released her hand, looking down at Wesley’s injured back. It looked to be healing nicely. She sighed a sigh of relief, then laid down beside him. Faith mirrored her action.

Willow could see the look of anguish on the other woman’s face. She must really be hurting from something, Willow thought. Faith lay her head down on Wesley’ back, crying her relief. Brushing Faith’s hair off of her face, Willow wiped away the tears that had fallen from her cheek.

“He can’t die,” Faith whispered.

“Not gonna. We won’t let it happen.”

Faith nodded her head yes. “I’m not jealous, you know.”

“I didn’t ask if you were.”

“That’s the wrong text,” Wesley mumbled in his sleep, which made the two women giggle.

“Why are we always giggling over him?” Faith asked.

“Maybe because he’s so damn funny.”

“You two should talk,” Wesley groaned finally, waking up.

Faith hugged him tightly. 

“Ow. Too tight, Faith.”

“Sorry,” Faith told him, obviously happy that he was awake.

Willow lay down beside him to look him in the eyes. The blue shown brightly in the candlelight they had managed to obtain. She just hoped that he wasn’t feverish because they didn’t have anything for something like that.

“I must have done something totally . . . .” Wesley started.

“Stupid,” Faith added.

“Idiotic,” Willow finished.

“Was it that awful?”

“Yes,” they both answered.

“See if I play the hero anymore for the two of you.”

Wesley rolled his body over, moving Faith to the side and Willow closer. The three lay in silence for a long time.

“I need food and a shower.”

Faith snorted a very unladylike snort. “I thought he was gonna say sex.”

“So did I,” Willow laughed.

“You two act like I’m some kind of sex-crazed maniac.”

“If the shoe fits,” Willow exclaimed.

“I would really love to know the history of the Wesley from this reality. He seems to be a fascinating chap.”

“You are such a guy,” Faith added.

“Last time I looked.” Which earned him a light punch to the stomach. “Hey, I’m injured.”

“I just happen to know where the showers are,” Faith wanted the other two to know.

“Clothes?” Wesley asked.

“We’ll live.”

“We could go without?”

Both Willow and Faith raised their eyebrows. “Pervert,” Faith bellowed out at him.

On shaky legs, Faith rose above Wesley and pulled him up. Willow got up also, grabbing the backpack before they walked out the door. Walking down a quiet corridor, Willow noticed that others seemed to be sleeping. A few were on guard duty, but no one noticed them pass by.

Faith led them to a small room that looked like it was once a locker room for some business. It must have been one sex only because the shower was exposed to the rest of the room. Willow turned to lock the door, then walked back to stand beside Faith.

“Ladies?”

“Oh, you go ahead,” Willow said, crossing her arms over her chest.

Willow could see that he was a little embarrassed at the thought of the two of them watching him undress and shower. But neither one wanted to leave him just in case he became weak. She could see that he still wasn’t one hundred percent back to normal yet.

“We’ll just watch,” Faith added, very serious.

Wesley’s eyes went wide, then challenging. He really didn’t think the two of them would just watch him. So he slowly unbuttoned his tattered shirt and threw it at them, almost like he was doing a horrible striptease for them. Faith’s serious face turned into a smile. 

“Oh, boy,” Willow muttered for only Faith to hear.

“Oh, boy,” Faith said with more enthusiasm as Wesley pulled down his pants to reveal his undergarments.

He was really challenging them to either look away or watch him in his full glory. Or maybe something else, Willow concluded?

Turning he flipped on the water until it was hot. Then he stripped off the underwear and threw it at them also.

“Oh, baby,” Faith played around.

“This is boring,” Willow told the slayer.

“Yeah. I have to agree with you on that one. He looks like he needs help.”

Wesley froze as he wet his hair.

“He could get weak or something. He might need our help.”

Willow could see the muscles on his back tense just slightly, but he still did not turn around. Faith pulled her top over her head and dropped it to the floor, adding it to Wesley’s pile. Willow didn’t know whether they would want her to join them. Faith looked at her and nodded yes. That was all the invitation she needed. This wasn’t about anybody’s preferences. This was about healing and connecting. And she would watch for any signs of either one of them being uncomfortable with her presence.

So Willow slipped out of her garments, looking over at Faith for any sign for her to leave. Faith just smiled, pointing to the guy over at the water. He still hadn’t moved a muscle.

“Need someone to do your back?” Faith purred as she shed the rest of her clothes. 

Willow did the same and they both walked over to where Wesley was under the water. It was now or never, Willow thought. Although she did have to admit to herself she did feel a bit uncomfortable. But she did admit to herself she did care for these two people, relied on these two people. They mattered to her like no one else ever had.

Faith reached around and grabbed a bar of soap that had been left in the soap holder. The intake of breath was unmistakable. He had felt both of them behind him. Faith passed the soap over to her. Willow soaped up her hands, then reached over and replaced it in the holder. Another intake of breath greeted her. Faith snickered a little, knowing what kind of effect they were having on the man.

“I call right,” Willow said.

“I call left,” Faith responded, getting a small groan from Wesley.

They started with his arms, slicking soap up and down, and then traveling to his back. 

As Faith reached his ass, she slapped soap on it. “Nice butt,” she told him.

For that he chuckled. He leaned his now clean arms against the wall, trying to brace himself. Willow hoped that he was really alright.

“Doing OK, Wes?” she asked.

“Perfect,” he managed to get out, obviously enjoying the attention.

“Time for the front,” Faith told the man.

“Oh, the hair first, then the front.”

Faith shook her head in agreement. They washed and rinsed his hair quickly, then traveled down to his neck. Faith’s hand hitting his chest made him groan a little louder. Willow rubbed his nipple, making him shake just a little too. Both their hands made his stomach then, making him hum in the back of his throat. His hips jutted out just a little too much for Willow. He definitely needed to eat more, way too skinny. But his chest was nicely muscled and legs were strong with muscle definition. 

Willow looked over to Faith who had a smile a mile wide because of the pleasure she was giving this man. But she still didn’t indicate if she wanted Willow to leave the two of them. So Willow nodded her way, waving to the door. Faith nodded back to her a no, then moved her hand lower. Willow mirrored her movement. Most of the soap had washed off of Wesley, so Willow started kissing his shoulder and arm. Faith had already started in on his collarbone, making the man as hard as a rock when both of their hands finally touched him. 

“That’s . . . .” Wesley managed to get out, but stopped as he looked at each of them, taking turns kissing them full on the lips.

Willow sort of felt like they were in some porno movie or something, but it all felt way too good to stop then. He surged under both of their hands. Willow moved her hands lower to touch him right under his erection as Faith slid her hand up and down, making him even harder. His hands finally came off the wall and gripped both of their backsides tightly. Willow tugged and pulled as Faith slid her hand faster. Willow could see Faith rubbing herself up against Wesley, trying to come at the same time as he did. Wesley felt her effort and moved his hand to help out. That act in and of itself almost sent Willow over the edge, until his other hand found its way to her core. She felt herself coming with such great intensity, she hoped he finished because she didn’t know if she could even keep a hold of him, much less stay upright.

He finally did finish, yelling out a yes just as she saw stars. Faith managed to grit out a fuck not two seconds later.

“That was, um,” Willow started, leaning against Wesley.

“Fucking amazing,” Faith finished, kissing Wesley’s shoulder.

“I aim to please, ladies,” he told them.

Both groaned at his dorky statement.

“Your turns,” he said as he swatted both of them on their asses.

“Those hands,” Faith laughed.

“Wow,” was all she could say.

Faith winked over at her, silently thanking her for not wimping out. And she silently thanked Faith for not being jealous of her.

TBC


	10. Decisions

Chapter Ten – Decisions

Faith just did not have sex with a girl, she thought. She had sex with Wesley, with Willow helping out. Not that it made her feel funny. She just didn’t know what to think of Willow. She wanted her to be there, that was for sure. And so did Wes. She wanted to thank him for saving her life yet again. And for Willow for doing the same. The three made a good team. How long could they keep this up before either one of them became jealous? She was a little, but it wasn’t worrisome. Now if it had been Cordelia, that would be another story. 

Wesley sat with Cordelia going over maps of the area. She was showing him where the nests of the demons were located. She agreed that taking out a nest was even much better than just taking them out one by one. Would they have enough power in them to do that? They just had to stay injury-free to accomplish it. Which meant strategizing to get close for the unknown power to work, but not too close.

Cordelia put her hand on Wes’s back as she talked to him. Now that did get her jealous. So she walked over to the two, just to see the look in his eyes. As she approached, the look that he gave her was unmistakable. The heat in his eyes almost scorched her right there. She could feel herself get warmer by the minute.

“Faith, come look at this, love,” he called to her.

So when she tried to sit down beside him, he pulled her into his lap, pointing out where the nests were with his finger.

“They’re close together. A family unit?” Faith remarked.

Cordelia moved away to the other side of the table. Wesley was rubbing her back with little circles. 

“Hey, food,” Willow called from the door.

“I’m starving,” Wesley told Faith, but not moving her from his lap.

Wesley grabbed an apple, offering Faith a bite first. Biting down, she looked into his eyes, getting burned again for her efforts. Willow sat down beside him, placing her hand on his unoccupied thigh, which for some reason really didn’t bother her. It was the look in Cordelia’s eyes that bothered her.

“Can we get back to the mission?” Cordelia asked, none too happy with the scene in front of her.

“Yes, I suppose we should. Once we take out one nest, the others will be alerted.”

“Yeah, and they’ll come after us,” Faith pointed out.

“And since they’re so close to each other, it will be dangerous,” Cordelia added.

“Not much of a choice, if you ask me,” Willow agreed.

“Where’s Fred?” Faith asked out of the blue.

“I don’t know,” Cordelia truthfully told them. “She disappeared after the battle with the one here.”

“Cordelia, she stabbed Wes,” Faith wanted the woman to know.

Cordelia laughed. “Yeah, right. Where’s the stab wound? Huh? Not acting like any guy I know that’s been injured, is he Willow?”

“We healed him,” Willow told the woman.

“How? Another one of those powers that all of a sudden you’ve gotten?”

“Yeah. Something like that. Listen, Cordy, something’s not right about her. The look in her eyes.”

“I know, I know.”

Cordelia got up to pace. Faith wondered what would make the girl be the way she was. She used to be so full of life.

“Was it Chuck dying?”

“Started out with that. Wes disappearing didn’t help matters. Then when Angel died, she snapped. Started to cling to me more and more.”

“And you took advantage?” Faith got out.

Cordelia came around to stare the slayer down. “You don’t know what it’s like. I care for her. She needs someone.”

“Yeah,” Faith snorted in disgust. “Maybe she just needed a friend’s shoulder to cry on. Not some woman making the moves on her.”

“Faith,” Willow warned.

“I need to talk to Cordy alone,” Wesley declared.

“I’m not leavin’ you in the same room with her, Wes,” Faith told him, trying to protect him.

“It’s OK.”

“That’s what you said the last time,” Faith cried out.

“If you hurt him, I’ll kill you,” Willow said to Cordelia as she slowly walked out of the room.

“Ditto,” Faith echoed Willow as she followed the wicca out the door.

“What?” Cordelia started.

“You know that we don’t belong here?”

“Kind of figured that out when you didn’t kill Fred for stabbing you. The other Wes would have made her pay, in spades. Or maybe he wouldn’t have killed her, but he would have made it hurt. Who are you?”

“I am who I say I am. Just from another reality. We want to get back to ours just as much as you want those demons gone from yours.”

“Then why help us?”

“Because we can. Because you deserve it.”

Cordelia shook her head yes, then dropped her head down. “When did it all go wrong? You were so different when we started working together.”

“How so?”

“You were sweet, fun. Then, you changed after Faith tortured you. It was like you were trying to wash away what she did to you. Did she do that to you in your reality?”

Wesley thought a few moments before answering her. Did he want her knowing this Wesley?

“Yes, she did. We had problems, failures on both sides. Now that we’ve worked together, I’ve realized how much I do care for her.”

“That’s good. Because the Wesley in this reality couldn’t care less about any woman. You bang whatever moves and has tits.”

Wesley sighed at that admission. He never treated women as objects, unless he counted the one time when he was possessed because of Billy Blimm.

“I am sorry, for what my other self did.”

“I just thought, since you seemed attached at the hip to those two, that you were the same Wes. Until you helped us that second time. Then I knew something was wrong. I would have had to pay him with something I really don’t want to give away again.”

Wesley really didn’t need to know the answer to that. But he wanted Cordelia to know that not all men were like that.

“What would that be?”

“My self-respect. Took that right along with everything else. He made me feel special, then threw me away like I was disposable.”

How could a version of him act so despicable? But he had slept with Lilah. Wasn’t that bad enough?

Cordelia moved closer to him, taking his arm in hers. “And when Angel died, I guess I just gave up ever being happy. Fred was convenient. I screwed up, majorly. I am so sorry.”

She reached up and brought his head down to hers. Her kiss said it all. She wanted him. But this was not his Cordelia. This could never be his Cordelia. So he pulled away, taking her arm from his.

“I know you are. But this will not solve it. I care for those two women out there. And they’re not disposable to me.”

Cordelia closed her eyes at his admission. “Do you love either one of them?”

“I don’t know. Faith and I have an understanding. Who am I fooling? If Faith sticks around, I could fall for her hard. Willow, I don’t know. She’s still hurting from her last relationship.”

“Whoa. And I thought I had issues,” Cordelia laughed, looking so much like the one he knew.

But this one was so much harder, so much more hurt and in pain than his ever would be.

“I should go see how they’re doing. It’s a good plan. You know that, don’t you?”

“Thanks. Coming from you, that’s a plus. I miss you.”

Cordelia’s tears made him feel small and inadequate. If they had to stay in this reality, he certainly would find a way to make it up to her. But he wanted to go back to the way it was. Would he lose the others though? The thought had been in the back of his mind for a couple of days now. Would going back change everything between them?

Making his way back to the room they shared, he walked in while the two had their heads together.

“Now what are you two plotting?”

“Nothing,” Faith said, all wide-eyed and innocent.

“Not likely,” he shot back, making the two laugh.

“We need to talk,” Willow started.

“I figured as much.”

He knew the three needed to talk about what they had done with each other. There wasn’t any drugs or situations to blame for their behavior, other than they needed each other. Sitting down in front of them, he took a hand in each of his.

“Don’t look all doom and gloom, mister,” Willow pointed to him.

“That’s my job, actually. The man with the books always tells the others that they are doomed.”

“Yeah, you got that right,” Faith agreed.

“I didn’t want to take advantage of either one of you.”

Faith snorted, Willow went ha.

“Hey, we’re ganging up on you. There was no advantage to be taken,” Willow rambled.

“And it was a nice ganging up, I must admit, but that’s beside the point,” Wesley mumbled to the two.

“Then we won’t gang up on you again,” Faith told him, dropping her head like she was embarrassed.

“Faith, look at me. I didn’t mean that in a negative way. When we get out of this, we will have to live with the consequences.”

Willow shook her head in agreement. But Faith stopped him with a finger in his face.

“If we get out of it?”

“We will. And we may not remember any of this happening.”

“Oh,” Willow answered.

“Right,” Faith agreed.

“And if we don’t manage to get out of it, then we will discuss it more. Until then, I think we should . . . .”

Wesley didn’t know what to say. On one hand, he wanted to stay as far away from the two as possible so he wouldn’t hurt them when the time came. But if the time never came, could he have them both?

“The wheels are spinning, but nothing’s coming out. What’ll you say, Willow?”

“On the count of three. One.”

“Two,” Faith added.

“Three,” they both said as they tackled him, tickling his ribs.

“Stop. Stop. I can’t breath,” Wesley laughed out loud.

“Shoulda thought that before your little speech, mister,” Willow said as she straddled his legs.

“Gotcha,” Faith told him as she towered over his torso.

“You two will be the death of me.”

“Promise?” Willow quipped.

“It’ll be fun,” Faith chided, mirth present in her voice.

“Not half as fun if you add me into the mix,” Lilah said from the doorway.

Immediately Faith and Willow jumped in front of Wesley, shielding him from the evil lawyer bitch.

“Hey, it’s the evil lawyer bitch,” Faith said, venom dripping from her voice.

“Ladies. I can handle her,” Wesley said from behind them.

“Don’t bet on it,” Willow said, arms crossed in a defensive posture.

“You wanna go home or not? Cause the three of you just aren’t any fun. I want my Wes back. Not some wimp ass guy.”

“Not a wimp, Lilah,” Faith told her, dragging out her name with menace.

“I could take her head off again,” Willow added, looking at the slayer for help.

“No violence. At least not yet,” Wesley wanted the two to know, looping an arm around both their waists to hold them back.

“Ah. I see. The skinny Texan was right. You’re screwing both of them. Maybe you would be more fun to have around.”

“Nuh uh, Lilah. You can look, but no touch,” Faith wanted the lawyer to know. “He’s ours.”

Faith emphasized her possession by snaking her arm around his torso too. Willow copied the woman’s movements, entwining the three together as almost one.

“Well, isn’t that sweet. God, you three want to make me barf.”

“What do you want, Lilah?”

“To bring back the right people to this dimension. The Wes I need is ruthless beyond imagination. He’ll help bring these asshole demons down permanently.”

“Already figured it out, Lilah,” Faith added.

“How?” she wanted to know. Willow stuck her tongue out in defiance. “Oh, very mature, Willow.”

“You don’t know me.”

“In this dimension, I do. Oh, and you’re just as evil in this dimension. And Faith is not, by the way. She’s already redeemed herself in everyone’s eyes. And Wes has screwed you all, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Well, so he did get around to everyone in this dimension. Even to Willow.

“Seems that he wanted more power, so he banged the witch. Good idea at the time. They make such an awesome couple.”

That explained Lilah and Wolfram and Hart matching them together. This reality Wesley must have a lot of power. And so must Willow.

“So how’s the little mother, Willow?”

Lilah walked toward Willow. Wesley and Faith effectively blocked the woman from even getting close.

“Stay away from her,” Wesley told Lilah with an undertone of violence in his voice.

“Didn’t have time to check the slayer. I really hope it happens to both of you. And I imagine once I get the real ones back, they’ll be ready for harvesting too.”

Faith’s fist slammed into Lilah, sending her reeling against the wall.

“You will not touch anything, you bitch.”

Lilah wiped the blood from her mouth onto her hand. Cordelia came into the room, dragging Fred by the arm along with her.

“Oh, so that’s what she brought back,” Cordelia retorted, looking at Fred like she could snap her neck in two.

“You promised Lilah,” Fred ground out.

“I’m not gonna kill them, you stupid bitch. I just want the old ones back.”

Fred’s eyes went wide. “Then I’ll kill these,” she said as she raised a knife from her back. Cordelia slapped her down, drawing blood from her mouth.

“Stay down, Fred. I mean it.”

“Cordelia, Lilah has a way for us to get back.”

“Not before you get rid of those demons, she doesn’t.”

Wesley should have seen this coming. Cordelia would sacrifice anyone to get the job done. She’d learned too well from Angel even in this dimension. Angel would have done the same.

“I want them gone also. You get rid of them, you get your life back as you know it.”

Wesley really wanted to go home. But he would be putting Faith and Willow’s counterparts back in this dimension potentially pregnant with his children. Would they be his or the alternate Wesley’s?

“We need to discuss this, alone,” he told the three other women.

Cordelia heaved Fred up from the floor, pushing her through the door roughly. Lilah soon followed Cordelia, shutting the flap on their makeshift room. Faith peeked out to see if anyone was lingering in the hallway. Then she came back in, arms crossed, ready for a fight.

“We can’t do this, Wes,” she started.

“They need our help.”

“What if we’re changing some timeline or something? We could mess up what happens in our reality,” Willow pointed out.

“And if we don’t help them, they’ll all die, and they may kill us in the process. We’ll never find out how to get home.”

The two women shook their heads in agreement. They both wanted to get back to their normal lives. If they stayed in this reality, he’d be an even bigger jerk than he was in his reality. But at least he would have Faith and Willow.

“Do you believe Lilah?” Willow asked.

“Yes, I do. She handed me a spell that first night I saw her.”

Wesley pulled a slip of paper from his pants pocket and handed it to Willow. She looked at it for a moment, and then raised her head.

“I’m not quite sure what this does. Maybe I’m translating it wrong.”

Wesley took the slip and read it in English for her. “She of light and dark, bind thee. She of dark and light, bind thee. As blessed will be done, so will hers be. Bind thee, bind thee by the light to me.”

“That’s what I thought it said too. Hey, wait. Did you already try to perform the spell?”

“No. I didn’t think I had enough power to make it work.”

“We could try it now, maybe?” Faith suggested.

“Not until we know what it does. It could be dangerous.”

“OK, let’s just look at it,” Faith started. “It says somethin’ about light to dark and dark to light. Could that be referring to Willow and me. Because Willow went from light to dark at one point, and I went from dark to light now.”

“Yeah, I’m following,” Willow answered.

“What if this binds us together more than just those little handshakes we’ve been giving each other?”

Wesley’s mind was working through the scenarios. What if Lilah wasn’t the one who gave them the spell? What if it just appeared? 

“Faith could be on to something,” Wesley agreed.

“We have some kind of glowy light coming from us. That could be a part of this puzzle.”

Wesley walked back and forth. They were bound together somehow in this dimension through blood. Willow had mumbled something about blood and portals while she was spaced out on some kind of magicks. She had also said something about jumping for their lives. Could everything that she said then be the truth? Her rantings could be what could happen in the future.

“Do you remember all of those things that you babbled to me in prison?”

Faith turned away, not wanting to hear what really happened between the two of them, because she had experienced the same things also.

“Faith, we may need your help,” Wesley called out before she could walk out of the room.

“Sure. I’ll stay.”

“You spoke about blood and a portal. Maybe our little ritual that we do will open a portal back. Do you think you have enough power to open one?”

Willow thought about the possibility, running the scenarios through her mind. “Maybe. If I combine it with yours. But that wouldn’t help all the way.”

“Yes. You’re right.”

“What? Right about what?” Faith asked.

“It may be enough power for two to enter, but not three. Faith, you don’t have any magical abilities, at least not like we do. But maybe that’s what the binding spell is for. If we used that, it might work,” Willow concluded.

“It’s OK. If you two get back,” Faith said, hesitant.

“No. We are not leaving you,” Wesley told her forcefully, pulling her into an embrace.

“I know, Wes,” she whispered back, burying her head in his chest.

“That’s an emphatic no from me also,” Willow told her as she rubbed the slayer’s back. “So how about we kick some demon butt so we can go home?”

“I just wished I knew why this power is working here? There has never been an indication in our reality that any of us has possessed this type of power to be used against demons.”

“Maybe because we never tried, Wes,” Faith added, looking at Willow over her shoulder.

“Could have been why someone sent us away?” Willow concluded.

“We’ll deal with it once we get back, if any of us remember anything.”

Faith looked up at him, worried about not remembering. She pulled him down for a gentle kiss. “I want to remember that.”

“As do I.”

“I’m gonna find Cordelia and tell her the good news. Be back in a while guys,” Willow said, waving as she started to leave.

“You don’t have to go, Will,” Faith announced.

“Nah. It’s OK.”

Willow left, leaving the two of them alone again.

“She keeps doing that,” Faith mentioned to Wesley.

“I know. I’m sorry, for everything.”

Faith threw her hands up in the air. “Now what? For this? This is not your fault.”

“No. For the way I treated you in Los Angeles. I wasn’t very pleasant with you. You almost died because of me.”

“I almost died because of Angelus. You did everything you possibly could to have me take that bastard down. No one else could have done that.”

Wesley plopped down on the floor. “That man that belongs in this dimension, I acted just as he has. I was cruel and demanding of you.”

“Not that I gave you much of a choice in the matter,” Faith answered, sitting down beside Wesley, looping her arm around his.

“So when you said that you were going to Sunnydale, I thought that I had failed you yet again.”

“How so? I was going to do my duty. Remember, sacred duty, blah, blah, blah.”

“Yes, I seem to remember reminding someone about that quite a bit, but she didn’t listen.”

Faith slapped him on the arm. “Hey, I listened. That doesn’t mean that I was gonna do what you said.”

“Where did we go wrong?”

“I think that we were doomed from the start.”

Wesley moved slightly away from Faith after she said that. She didn’t see any hope in their situation, so he shouldn’t get his hopes up either.

“So we start over,” Faith announced, smile playing across her face. “Wait, I think we already have. We are not the same people we were all those years ago.”

“Seems like it was ages ago when you first told me to screw it.”

“Not you. The situation.”

Faith linked her hand with his, wanting to feel closer to him. Wesley could feel the heat coming off her hand, like she was trying to tell him something with just a touch.

“There is something that I wanted to tell you,” Wesley said as he moved closer, touching her hair along the way.

“And what is that?” she asked, moving closer to him.

He dove in for a kiss, practically devouring her as he did. 

“You sure the drugs still aren’t in effect, Wes,” Faith mumbled as he found her neck. “Because we’ve been sure going at it like bunnies.”

“It’s just you, love.”

Faith growled and tackled Wesley, pinning him to the floor. “I want you,” she panted out as she ground herself down.

He moaned in reply. Wesley wanted to go slow, show Faith how much he cared for her, but her hands were working much too fast. She had his pants unzipped in record time and hers off right after. He didn’t get to even touch her before she positioned herself on top of him and took him in fully. She was already hot and wet for him.

“You’re all ready to go,” he moaned into her neck as she slid up and down his length.

“I love it when you talk to me,” she panted back, eyes glazed over.

Gently picking her up, he flipped them over, wanting to slow Faith down a little before it was over too soon. As he looked at her lying beneath him, he wanted her so badly, he picked up the pace until they were both clawing at each other. Their rhythm was totally off, they didn’t know whether they should kiss. Finally, Wesley stopped what he was doing and looked down at Faith. Her eyes were pleading for release.

“We have to slow down. I can’t, I want,” Wesley rambled, not knowing what to say to her.

“Don’t stop, Wes. Please,” she begged him.

That did him in. As he started up again, Faith wrapped her legs around his torso, taking more of him inside her, moaning as he went deep.

“Harder,” Faith croaked out.

Wesley complied, feeling her orgasm building as she became tighter and tighter around him. As she hit that peak, she arched her back, squeezing him so tight he thought he wouldn’t be able to take it.

“Oh, I love you, Wes,” Faith screamed as she came.

Which made him come all that quicker, moaning into her hair his response. “I love you so much,” he whispered as he collapsed on top of her, thoroughly exhausted by their lovemaking.

They lay there for a while, in each other’s arms. 

TBC


	11. Three

Chapter Eleven – Three

Faith had blurted out those three little words that meant way too much. Complicating matters wasn’t what she had wanted to do. But she said them out loud, and now would have to face the consequences.

“You’re thinking too hard. I can practically hear the wheels turning in your brain,” Wesley quietly said into her ear.

Was she that obvious?

“Just thinkin’ about everything. What about Willow?”

She said that without thinking. What about Willow? Somehow they were all connected. Which meant that Willow would be around. Sharing Wesley hadn’t been easy on her. She might even have to share him with more people if what Lilah said was true.

Wesley sighed into her hair. “I’m not sure what to do. She’s special.”

“I understand,” Faith replied, trying to get out of his grasp.

“No, no. Faith. Wait. What I meant to say is I’ll not abandon her. I do admit there are feelings there. Not the same as with you. It’s just different. I’m not quite sure I understand it.”

Faith wanted to tell him to make up his mind. Why did he have to make up his mind? What if Willow wanted the same thing she wanted? Was there enough of Wesley to go around?

“Is there enough of you to go around?” she asked him.

“Faith, these are extreme circumstances that we find ourselves in.”

Faith turned to face him. She needed to know if his feelings were true.

“So if we hadn’t gotten thrown together, then none of this wouldn’t have happened?”

Wesley shook his head no. “Faith, you provided that spark that was missing in my life. Things had gone so terribly wrong for so long, when we worked together, it felt right. Something actually felt good for once in my life. And it was all because of you. I hadn’t realized how much I missed you.”

“I tried to kill you the last time I saw you.”

“And I pushed you away before in Sunnydale. We learn from our mistakes.”

Faith brought him closer to her, to hear his steady heartbeat against her ear. Finally something solid, real in her life and it had to be way too complicated for her to figure out.

Slowly, she drifted off to sleep, waiting for Willow to come back. Snuggling with Wesley was a great way to fall asleep. A while later, she noticed that her other side was warming up quiet nicely. Willow had come in sometime during their rest and snuggled up to Faith. She really didn’t mind. She just hoped that Wesley didn’t.

“Hey,” Willow whispered, not wanting to wake up Wesley.

“All a go?” Faith asked.

“Yeah. Cordelia is gathering all the troops. They should be ready in a day or two at the most.”

Willow laid her head on Faith’s shoulder. At first, it kind of weirded her out. But now that Willow got comfortable, she realized that it was nice. Two people that cared for her, instead of none. Stroking Willow’s hair, she noticed that Wesley had wrapped a leg over hers, so she couldn’t really move. 

“That’s nice,” Willow moaned a little.

“Willow, I never, I mean, girls, I’ve never,” Faith blurted out.

“Oh, don’t stress out. Not gonna unless you want to. I do wanna tell you that I think you’re cute. Just for your information, that is.”

Willow had the hots for her? Where had the signs been? And for how long?

“Faith, you’re out there, with the clothes and the attitude and everything. I’ve always been the wallflower, the girl with the least experience. But I do know what I like and don’t like. And I do like you. If you just wanna be friends, that’s perfectly alright.”

Willow raised her head to look directly down at Faith. She slowly lowered her head until their lips lightly touched. Faith always thought she’d die before touching another woman this way. Men were her thing. It was so not her thing. Or so she thought. But this was Willow, whom she was bound to in almost every way. It felt right. Just as it felt right to have Wesley, her watcher whom she tortured, to be wrapped around the other side of her. 

Willow’s lips were warm and slightly moist. Tangling her hand in Willow’s soft tresses, Faith pulled her down to get more of her taste. Willow whimpered back as Faith slanted her lips to take more.

“As hot as it is to watch the two of you go at it, aren’t you the least bit knackered?”

Faith almost squealed as she abruptly pulled away from Willow’s kiss. Wesley had woken up in the middle of the long kiss and had watched. He thought it was hot?

“She’s insatiable,” Willow answered in reply.

“That she is. Delightful tasting too,” Wesley agreed as he burrowed deeper into her hair, latching on to her earlobe and biting. “Please continue what you were doing.”

Geez, Wesley still could surprise her. Here she was about to have her first experience kissing a girl and Wesley was cheering her on. But he wasn’t on the sidelines at all. She felt his erection growing as he nibbled on her neck. Willow descended again, placing light kisses on her lips and eyes. Faith decided to just let it go. Sighing, she closed her eyes to enjoy all the sensations racing through her body. At that point, she didn’t know where her body stopped and theirs started.

Wesley’s hand made slow circles across her stomach as Willow still nibbled and licked her way over Faith’s face and neck. The callused hands and soft lips had her moaning in no time. Willow’s hand joined Wesley’s on her stomach. Both pushed her top up at the same time, working each of their hands to her breasts. She couldn’t breathe as they simultaneously stroked each nipple with a finger. Their mouths left hers to rise above her. Opening her eyes, she saw that they were now kissing each other as they played with her. Erotic was not even the word she was thinking. They both looked down at her face and smiled.

Instead of continuing their mutual kissing, both of their heads descended to her breasts. She thought she’d die of the sensations that they were both sending through her body as tongues and teeth went to work. Different techniques still had her writhing underneath them. Wesley suckled and bit down gently as Willow flicked her tongue over the tight nipple, pulling it in to her mouth every now and then. Grabbing both of their heads, she held on for dear life. 

They took turns then kissing her mouth as the other continued with his or her ministrations. 

“OK, Faith?” Willow whispered.

“Yeah,” came out as a moan.

“Beautiful,” Wesley sighed as he touched his lips to her breast again.

Both traveled their hands up and down her body, gently rubbing and caressing her until each nerve ending was on fire. She could tell that their breathing was getting just as labored as hers was. 

“How are we gonna do this?” she managed to get out.

“Don’t worry. We’ll take care of you,” Willow said to her, smile still in place.

Wesley slowly took his time kissing and licking her all the way down to her toes while Willow kept her mouth and upper regions on fire. Spreading her legs wide, he gently nibbled on the inside of her thighs as Willow rolled a nipple with her tongue. Wesley’s tongue found how wet she was and added to it, stroking her deep. By the time he added his long fingers to the mix, she was ready to let it go, climaxing. Arching her back off the floor, she came in wave after wave until she was shaking with the intensity of it.

Working his way back up her body, Wesley raised himself slightly and almost devoured Willow in a deep, tongue-thrusting kiss. She wondered what she tasted like to them. Both lowered their heads to show her what they had just tasted. The combination of the three of them was intoxicating, bringing her back to life quickly.

Rising off the floor, she sat down on her knees and pulled them both close, kissing one then the other while hands roamed everywhere. Willow was so soft to the touch, much more than she ever was, so she just experimented caressing Willow’s backside while Wesley’s head worked its way down until he found Willow’s breast. Not wanting to be left behind, Faith copied exactly what Wesley had just done, rubbing her lips against Willow’s nipple lightly. Willow arched her back so the two of them could get access at the same time.

Willow tasted like strawberries. She had never known that people could taste like a fruit. Maybe it was the soap they had last used. Not only was Wesley enthusiastically sucking in Willow’s nipple, his hand came up and found one of hers also, making her take a deep breath at the sensation. She could feel his erection hard and silky against her thigh as she pressed her body towards Willow to gain more friction. 

Switching people, she licked, then bit Wesley on the chest, watching his eyes cross as she grabbed and stroked him at the same time.

“I need to be inside one of you. Now,” he insisted as Faith felt him grow harder and longer.

“Down, boy,” Willow said as she shifted him to the ground.

Willow pointed to his cock as she licked his nipple. 

“Sure?” Faith groaned out as she took his balls in her hands and tugged.

“I’ve got other plans.”

Faith climbed on top of Wesley and slowly sunk down onto him, impaling him inside of her. She could feel him shutter just momentarily as she inched her way over him. Giving him a tight squeeze, she rested there for a moment to get her bearings and to see what Willow had planned.

“Taste you,” Wesley ground out as Faith moved a little over him.

She didn’t want him going off without at least Willow being there for the finale. Willow positioned herself directly over Wesley’s mouth. That made Faith’s muscles tighten even more, eliciting a moan from Wesley as his tongue flitted across Willow, making her quiver with excitement. 

Willow leaned forward and kissed Faith deeply as Wesley slowly laved at Willow’s entrance with his tongue. Then Willow traveled to Faith’s breast, biting the nipple to a sharp point. Tickling her belly button, Willow went further down until she was level with where Wesley and Faith were joined. Her tongue came out to touch both of them, making Wesley surge up into Faith. The thought now was to move up and down, creating some friction. Willow’s tongue dove in, lightly flicking her clit and Wesley’s cock in exquisite torture. 

Faith rose up until only the tip of the erection was inside of her. Willow licked and nibbled her way up it, until reaching Faith. Willow then suckled on her clit for a few moments as Faith arched her back to give her more access. Before long, Faith couldn’t stand it anymore and took all of Wesley back in. She wanted Willow to enjoy some of what was happening, so she pushed her back until she was kneeling over Wesley and slowly did the same thing to the wicca. She could see the smirk on Wesley’s face as she parted Willow’s damp curls and kissed her lightly on her clit. Slowly, he inserted one long finger, then two as Faith’s tongue tasted her for the first time. 

Their two tongues dueled for position as Wesley’s fingers worked Willow into a frenzy. Faith added her finger to the hot wetness, pushing up in beside his. Willow’s fingers tangled in Faith’s hair, moaning that she was close. Wesley’s teeth against Willow’s clit finally sent her over the edge, making her back arch and a scream escape. With that done, Faith could concentrate on making Wesley scream also. Now riding him hard, Willow moved closer to Faith, adding her mouth to her breast and her finger to her clit. Faith’s hands moved down to see if Willow had anything left in her also, stroking the wetness still there. Wesley’s fingers joined again, helping Faith make Willow pant all that much more as he thrust up inside of Faith.

Faith went off like a rocket yet again, squeezing Wesley until she heard him shout as he surged up into her deeply, coming hard and long. Willow whimpered as she tightened around Faith’s fingers that had started to thrust up inside of her. Faith kissed Willow gently on the lips before Willow moved off to lie down beside Wesley, cuddling up to his side. She slid down his body, keeping them joined for as long as possible.

 

Two? Wesley never thought that he’d have more than one person that he cared for. One seemed to be almost unattainable. But here he was, entwined with two lovely young ladies, who had just made him the happiest man alive. 

What he had told Faith earlier, about caring and loving her, it was entirely true. He had finally seen her true nature when they had been teamed together. She was one of the strongest women that he had ever known. He had held his attraction to her at bay while they did their jobs. Now all he had to do was enjoy her. Perhaps they were meant to be stranded in this dimension.

Willow put him into a quandary though. She was something that he was missing in his life. She was a light in his darkness. She understood exactly what he had gone through because of her own experiences. No judgment calls from her. He truly and genuinely wanted for her to be around. If Faith hadn’t been around, he would definitely fall in love with her. But there was Faith, for whom he couldn’t deny his feelings. They were as different as night and day, but both with shady pasts, just like himself. 

Wesley wasn’t going to kid himself any longer. He loved them both. Maybe not the same way, but he couldn’t deny it to himself any longer. He just wondered how they would feel if he told them what his conclusions were. 

“Why aren’t you sleeping?” Willow whispered to him.

“Thinking.”

“Sleeping, now, you two,” Faith mumbled, turning to snuggle into his chest.

Looking over Faith’s shoulder, he reached a hand to touch Willow’s face, brushing away a strand of hair that had fallen over it. She returned a smile to him as she grabbed onto the hand.

“I love you,” he mouthed to Willow, watching her eyes go wide with emotion.

Willow moved closer to place a small kiss on his lips, sealing her answer back with another mouthed “I love you.”

“Not an Energizer Bunny guys. If you wanna, find someplace else,” Faith muttered into Wesley’s chest.

“We’ll sleep,” Wesley answered her back, kissing the top of Faith’s head.

Willow did the same, snuggling her body up against Faith’s back. For certain, they made a strange trio, but giving this up would be difficult. Once they returned to their dimension, granted that they remembered this adventure, Wesley was sure these relationships would continue, particularly if Lilah were being truthful with them.

 

The next day, the three arose early to prepare for the final battle. Wesley was quite concerned about using their newly found powers to defeat an enemy the size of the Braxx. It was dangerous to the point where he even thought of fleeing with Faith and Willow, letting Cordelia handle the situation herself. But he was certain the ladies wouldn’t allow it. If both of them were with child, then not only was he putting his two loves in danger, he was putting his own children in the line of fire.

“Are you sure?” Wesley asked Willow for the tenth time.

“Completely. We’re gonna be OK. Calm down.”

He wasn’t calm at all. The signs of pregnancy weren’t apparent to him. Not like he’d ever been around a woman who’d had a normal pregnancy.

“I’m concerned.”

The two were sitting at the table, eating a light meal. Rations were starting to dwindle, so they needed to take care of the problem before the others started to feel the effects of not enough food.

“About?” Willow asked, to the point as always.

“You,” he replied, eyes straying to her stomach.

“Oh, that. Not exactly the place to raise a child. We have to make this work.”

If he lost one or the both of them to this, he didn’t know what he would do.

“Do you think, do you think that Lilah was telling the truth? I don’t really know,” Wesley continued.

“I’m not sure why she’d lie about that. And yes, I’ve been feelin’ kinda weird lately. So it’s very possible. If you don’t wanna, you know, worry about it, I understand. I know that you and Faith,” Willow stammered out.

Wesley stopped her short with a finger to her lips. “And I truly meant what I said last night. I do love you. As I do Faith, as strange as that sounds. Is that even possible?”

“Anything’s possible. But me, are you sure? I mean, we haven’t known each other that long or that well. Just because I might have our child, it doesn’t obligate you to love me.”

“No, it does not,” Wesley said, taking her hand in his large one. “Your condition has nothing to do with how I feel. You’re strong and resilient and funny and bright. I don’t feel like a bumbling idiot around you, like I do with most women. You understand me.”

Willow became shy as Wesley listed off the things that he loved about her. Her red hair hung down in front of her face, so he couldn’t see her emotions playing over her expressive face. The reason she hid her face from him. 

“Faith might be jealous. I’ve lost to Faith before. She’ll fight for what is hers.”

“It doesn’t work that way. There is nothing to fight for other than position in our bed at night.”

Willow’s head snapped up and looked at him sheepishly. A blush started at her neck, covering her whole face and neck with a pretty color.

“I was a little wanton last night. It was nice though.”

Wesley snickered a little. Nice wasn’t exactly a word he would use to describe their night together.

“Not nice,” he responded, eliciting a small slap from Willow on the arm.

“Then what do you call it?”

“Pleasurable, mind-blowing, orgasmic, erotic, satisfying. Shall I continue with the descriptions?”

Willow smiled back his way. “Nah. I think I got the visual.” She reached up to his head, yanking it down for a toe-curling kiss.

“I love you so,” she finished the kiss with those words.

“Oh, sorry, I just, I was wondering what was up. I’m sorry to disturb you guys,” Faith said, tripping over her words as she started to back out of the door again.

She had obviously heard Willow’s pronouncement and thought that the words he had said to her last night weren’t true. The look of hurt that crossed her face was unmistakable. He wanted her to understand the way he felt. Getting up from his seat, he put up his hand for her to stop.

“Faith, we all need to sit down and discuss our futures together,” he implored her.

“No, I get it. No prob. Really. I’ll just move along.”

Wesley put his hand on her arm to stop her from leaving. Looking down at where they joined, her face stiffened up until a sneer replaced the look of hurt.

“You better be removing that hand now if you wanna keep it.”

“Faith, just listen to him. Please,” Willow called from directly behind him.

Willow was backing him up. Maybe she understood what he was feeling.

“I love you, Faith. Believe me,” Wesley blurted out for both of them to hear.

“He does,” Willow added without the least bit of hurt in her voice.

“But you love, you can’t love both of us. It won’t work,” Faith told the two.

“Who says it won’t?” Willow responded to Faith’s reasoning.

“Can’t I love you both?” he finally posed to the two of them. “At the same time?”

Faith looked shocked to him. Perhaps it wasn’t such a good idea to blurt out all that he was feeling. Sometimes that got him into a fair amount of trouble.

“You’ll have me believe that you love both of us, at the same time. That’s really, really wacko. What if you have to choose?”

Wesley gentled his grip on Faith’s arm, noticing that she hadn’t carried out her threat against him. 

“I don’t want to choose. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you.”

“I’m not sure what to say to that. A little confused maybe?” Faith said as she looked from Willow to Wesley and back again.

“We both love you,” Willow agreed.

Wesley turned to look at Willow while Faith got closer to the two of them.

“It is what it is. I see what I see, feel what I feel,” Willow commented, backing up a little.

“Will, I don’t know whether I can ever love love you,” Faith answered.

“Not a problem. And it’s just different. Not sure about anything myself. This place just does that to you.”

Wesley looked at the two the way he would watch a tennis match. Revelations just kept coming out of everyone’s mouth. 

“Makes everything more intense. And why do you think I was mad at you in Sunnydale, Faith?”

Both Faith’s and Wesley’s eyebrow shot up with that question. Faith caused just as much havoc in Sunnydale as she did in Los Angeles.

“We all know the answer to that, Will. And I’m sorry for it all,” Faith mumbled, putting her head down.

“No, you idiot. It was all the attention that you were paying Buffy. Buffy so obviously didn’t like you, but did you think for one moment that I might have?”

This is a soap opera, Wesley thought to himself, just like those shows that Cordelia wrapped herself up in and invested too much time watching. The circle that they were creating might be hard to break from if things went further. Their relationships with each other might be hard to maintain once they were back in their own dimension. Too many variables to think about at that time.

He couldn’t even think about being jealous. That didn’t enter into the equation at all. 

“We have many issues to talk about.”

“Wes,” Cordelia panted as she ran into the room. “We need to go, now. Timetable’s been moved up. The Braxx attacked our forward position.”

“You’ve repelled them before?”

“They’re attacking with everything they have. That front line will be gone in minutes. It won’t take much to get here and obliterate us.”

TBC


End file.
